Shadow of the Day
by 09sarahbean
Summary: Lucy Jones is now a second-year at Hogwarts. Strange things happen as students start to turn up Petrified, & Harry Potter is the one being accused of causing it. Lucy must help her friend clear his name before anything worse happens. Sequel to This is Home.
1. 1: Return to the Burrow

_**A/N: Welcome to story number two in this series! The first story is called This is Home and covers Lucy's first year at Hogwarts, and you should probably read it before you read this one.**_

 _ **Just some info about this story before it begins: first, I'm going to continue posting chapters on Mondays and Thursdays; second, this story has sixteen chapters in total. Hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 _ **And the shadow of the day  
Will embrace the world in gray  
And the sun will set for you**_

 _ **Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park**_

 **Chapter 1 – Return to the Burrow**

It was a rather beautiful July morning in Massachusetts. Lucy Jones was lying wide awake in her bed, even though it was only seven o'clock. She sighed as she stared up at her ceiling. It had been one week since she'd returned to the United States from her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she was missing it terribly. Hogwarts had really become a home away from home for her.

Lucy hadn't realized how hard it was going to be to spend two months so far away from school and her friends. Even though she had lived in Massachusetts for most of her life, she felt like an outsider now. All she wanted to do was go back to Britain.

Not for the first time since she'd found out what happened to her parents, Lucy felt anger. When she was a year old, she had been removed from her parents' home and sent to the States to keep her safe. There had been a war going on, and You-Know-Who—the most evil wizard of his time—was hunting down anyone who opposed him. That included Lucy's parents.

Unfortunately, her parents had been killed not long after Lucy had been sent to the States. Dan and Sue Jones, who had temporarily taken Lucy in, permanently adopted her. They had told her very early on in her life that she was adopted, but she had never known much of anything about her birth parents.

For the first ten years of her life, Lucy had assumed that she would be attending Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was the main magic school that served North America. Then, one year prior, Lucy received an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. She had never felt very attached to Ilvermorny, and, after learning some more about her parents, she'd decided to give Hogwarts a try.

Lucy turned over onto her side and was immediately met with her black cat Evie's nose. "Good morning, Evie," Lucy said with a chuckle.

Evie meowed and pawed at the blanket impatiently. Lucy knew that this meant she was hungry and ready to eat.

"All right, all right," Lucy said. "I'll get you some breakfast."

She sat up and pushed the blankets off herself. Then, after changing out of her pajamas and into some regular clothes, she let Evie crawl onto her shoulders and left the room.

"Good morning, Lucy." Lucy's adoptive mom Sue was in the kitchen, and she looked surprised to see her daughter. "You're up very early."

"Evie wanted her breakfast," Lucy replied. She took her cat over to the corner of the room where her food bowl was. Once Lucy crouched down, Evie jumped gracefully onto the floor. Lucy scooped some food into Evie's bowl, and Evie started eating immediately.

"Would you like something for breakfast, as well?" Sue asked after Lucy had straightened up.

"I suppose so," Lucy answered. She took a seat at the kitchen table as Sue busied herself at the stove.

"Good morning, dear," Dan said, entering the room. He pressed a kiss into Sue's temple. Then he turned and saw Lucy. "Morning, pumpkin," he added warmly.

"Hi, Dad," Lucy said.

"What are you doing up so early?" Dan asked.

"I dunno," Lucy replied. "I was just awake, and then Evie insisted on having some breakfast."

Then there was a squawk from somewhere nearby. Lucy looked up to the kitchen window and saw their family owl Thomas flying towards the house. Dan hurried over to the window and opened it. Thomas swooped into the kitchen and landed on the table. He held his foot out obediently; tied to it were a few letters and a copy of the morning paper.

"Anything for me?" Lucy asked as Dan sorted through the mail.

"Yes, actually," Dan replied, pulling an envelope out from the pile and handing it over.

Lucy took it eagerly and opened it.

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _I hope your summer has been all right so far. Mine's been pretty good. We've been playing a lot of Quidditch. Percy is hopeless on a broom, so it's just been me, Fred, and George._

 _Anyway, everyone's been asking when you're going to come and visit. Mum said that she'll talk to your parents and sort everything out, but I figured that someone should ask you if you even want to visit. I've written to Harry and invited him to stay, as well, but I haven't heard back from him yet._

 _Well, let me know if you're interested in staying with us again. Talk soon!_

 _Ron_

Lucy smiled at the letter. It was from Ron Weasley, one of her best friends back at Hogwarts. The Weasley family had acted as Lucy's host family while she'd been in Britain last summer.

"Mom, Dad," Lucy said, getting her parents' attention. "It's from Ron. He's asking if I could go and stay at their house sometime soon."

"I'm sure we could arrange something," Sue said. "Actually, there was something your father and I needed to talk to you about."

"What's that?" Lucy asked.

"Kathy Summers invited us down for a few days a couple of weeks from now," Sue said. "You'll be able to see your old friends! Isn't that exciting?"

Lucy hesitated. The friends that Sue was referring to were the daughters of Sue's and Dan's old school friends. There were three of them: Paige Summers, Samantha Green, and Noelle Watson. Although Lucy had grown up with them, she had never considered them her friends. Dan and Sue were unaware of this, however, so Lucy always tried to feign excitement when she had to see the girls.

"That's great, Mom," Lucy said eventually, hoping that she sounded convincing enough.

Sue beamed and returned to cooking breakfast, and Lucy looked down at the table, feeling guilty and dreading the future visit to Texas.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The day of the Joneses' short vacation had arrived. Lucy was very quiet throughout breakfast and as Dan and Sue ran around the house to make sure everything was ready for them to leave. Then, when midmorning came around, they stood in front of their fireplace and used the Floo Network to travel to the Summerses' house.

When Lucy spun out of the fire, she looked around the familiar family room. It had been a few years since she'd been to Paige Summers's home, but it looked the same as ever. The only noticeable differences were the updated family photos on the walls.

"Lucy, dear!" a voice trilled excitedly in a southern accent.

Lucy turned to see Kathy Summers, Paige's mother, grinning at her. Sue was standing by, as well, along with their other old school friends.

Mrs. Summers walked over to Lucy and said, "It's been so long since we last saw you! Look at how much you've grown." Mrs. Summers held out her arms, and Lucy forced herself into the hug.

"Hello, Mrs. Summers," she said politely.

"I suppose you don't want to be hanging around with us," Mrs. Summers giggled after she let go of Lucy. "Paige is upstairs with Samantha and Noelle. You remember where Paigie's room is, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lucy said. "Excuse me." She gave Mrs. Summers and the other adults a tight-lipped smile before leaving the room.

"She seems _so_ much more polite, Susie," she heard Mrs. Summers simper.

Lucy rolled her eyes but didn't turn back.

The Summerses' home was large, much larger than the Joneses'. Lucy never understood how Paige and her mother could live in such a big house when it was just the two of them. Paige's father had been a Muggle, and he had passed away when Paige was quite young. Mrs. Summers was the Editor-in-Chief of a popular witch magazine, which meant that they had plenty of money. Lucy thought that living in such a big house would get too lonely for her, but apparently Mrs. Summers and Paige didn't think so.

Lucy reached the foyer and took the staircase up to the second floor. She stopped outside Paige's bedroom door and took a moment to collect herself. She hadn't seen any of these girls in over a year; she had no idea of what to expect. After taking a few calming breaths, Lucy reached out and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and Lucy was immediately greeted by a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who was the spitting image of her mother.

"Lucy!" Paige squealed in her southern accent, throwing her arms around Lucy's neck enthusiastically.

Lucy, feeling slightly overwhelmed, lightly hugged the girl back.

"It's so good to see you!" Paige went on, grabbing Lucy's wrist and pulling her into the room. "Samantha! Noelle! Look who's here! It's Lucy!"

"Hi, Lucy!" Samantha Green said from her position on Paige's bed, and Lucy waved at her.

"Hey, Lucy," Noelle Watson spoke up, sitting on the couch next to the bed, and Lucy gave her a small smile. Noelle was the one Lucy had always gotten along the best with.

"So, where were you this year?" Paige asked as she sat down on the bed next to Samantha.

Lucy remained standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "What do you mean?" she questioned, confused.

"Well, you never showed up at Ilvermorny," Paige explained. "We were all really confused as to where you had gone. I mean, we always talked about going to Ilvermorny together."

"I'm surprised that my mom didn't tell your moms," Lucy said.

"Well, maybe she did, and they forgot to tell us," Paige said. "So, were you being home-schooled? I'm surprised. You always spoke so highly of Ilvermorny."

"I wasn't home-schooled," Lucy replied flatly, suspicious that Paige was trying to trap her somehow.

"But if you weren't home-schooled, and you didn't go to Ilvermorny—oh!" Paige gasped dramatically. "Are you a No-Maj?"

Lucy couldn't help rolling her eyes. A No-Maj was what Americans called a non-magical person; Lucy had gotten used to saying _Muggle_ when she'd been in Britain. "I'm not a No-Maj," Lucy answered. "I actually went to Hogwarts last year."

There was a moment of silence as Paige's and Samantha's eyes widened.

"Isn't that the school in Britain?" Samantha asked, sounding confused.

"Yes," Lucy replied. "I found out that I was born in Britain, so my name had been registered for Hogwarts when I was a baby."

"That's cool," Noelle said genuinely.

Paige and Samantha shared a glance.

"Well, that definitely sounds interesting," Paige said finally. Then, after a moment, she added, "Come on, Sam. I promised you that I would show you my new nail polishes."

The two girls got up from the bed and went into Paige's bathroom. They shut the door, leaving Lucy alone with Noelle.

"Sorry about her," Noelle said immediately. "I think she wanted to believe that you had chickened out of going to Ilvermorny to make her feel better about herself or something."

"That sounds like Paige," Lucy replied. "So, tell me about Ilvermorny. What house did you get into?"

Noelle patted the couch cushion next to her, and Lucy gratefully sat down. "Thunderbird, actually," Noelle answered. "Paige and Samantha are both Wampuses, so I didn't see them a whole lot in the past year. But enough about me. You went to Hogwarts! What's it like?"

"Well, there are four houses there, too," Lucy began. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They're named after the founders. I was put into Gryffindor."

"Did you get to meet Harry Potter?" Noelle asked. "I know that he's our age."

"He's actually one of my best friends," Lucy said proudly with a smile.

"What? No way!" Noelle exclaimed. "That is so awesome. Now I wish _I_ could go to Hogwarts. So, what's he like?"

"He's just an ordinary boy," Lucy replied with a shrug, "except that people tend to stare at him wherever he goes."

"Girls!" Mrs. Summers's voice called from below. "Girls, it's time for lunch! Come on downstairs!"

Paige and Samantha exited the bathroom, chatting loudly with one another, and led the way out of the bedroom. Lucy and Noelle followed behind them.

After Noelle had brought up Harry, Lucy couldn't help thinking about her closest friends. Sue had been in contact with Mrs. Weasley, and it had been decided that Lucy would be returning to the Weasleys' home—the Burrow—on her twelfth birthday. She was going to stay with them for the rest of the summer, and she could not wait.

"Come along, girls," Mrs. Summers said when the four girls had joined the adults in the family room. "We're going to head out and get lunch."

"Oh, Mom!" Paige spoke up. "Please tell me we can go to Little Julia's!"

Mrs. Summers nodded her approval, and they all lined up in front of the fireplace.

"Did you girls get all caught up?" Sue asked, stepping forward so she could stand next to Lucy.

"Yes," Lucy replied. "Did you tell them that I went to Hogwarts?"

"I'm sure it came up at some point," Sue said with a frown. "Why?"

"Paige asked if I had been home-schooled last year," Lucy answered.

"Well, maybe Kathy forgot to tell her about it," Sue said. "Ready to go to lunch?"

"Yeah," Lucy said, which was a lie. She just wanted to go home.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The rest of their vacation passed slowly for Lucy. The only thing that kept her in decent spirits was the fact that she would be going back to Britain soon.

Paige and Samantha, after learning that Lucy hadn't been home-schooled, didn't pay her much attention. Instead, Lucy and Noelle took turns telling each other about their first years at their schools.

Finally, the four days had passed, and Lucy, Sue, and Dan were leaving the Summerses' home. They were passed around the other families, and Lucy felt almost sad to be saying good-bye to Noelle. Noelle promised Lucy that she would write.

Then Lucy was taking the Floo Network back to her home in Massachusetts. When she stepped out of the fire into their familiar living room, she took a big breath, feeling relieved. Now she only had about a week to wait until she could go back to the Burrow.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy's twelfth birthday had finally arrived. She was awake very early, and she wasted no time in getting out of bed. She changed out of her pajamas and packed them away into her trunk before making her bed.

Next, she joined her parents in the kitchen for her birthday breakfast. Sue had made French toast, which was what Lucy always had on her birthday. Once they were done eating, Sue and Dan handed Lucy a couple of presents, which she opened happily.

After breakfast, Dan left for work, and Sue began to clean up the kitchen. Lucy, meanwhile, excused herself to go back up to her room. She finished packing her trunk, and then she tidied up her bedroom so that her parents wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up after her.

A few hours later, when she was satisfied with her work, she flopped down onto her bed. Evie immediately jumped up next to her, purring. Lucy stroked the cat's head and grinned at the ceiling. It wouldn't be long until she was back with the Weasleys.

"Lucy!" Sue called from somewhere downstairs.

"Yeah, Mom?" Lucy yelled.

"Come here for a moment, sweetheart," Sue requested.

Lucy sighed and sat up. Evie lifted her head to find out why Lucy had stopped petting her. Lucy gave the cat a few reassuring pats before getting to her feet and trudging from her room. She went down the stairs and found Sue reading at the kitchen table.

"What's up, Mom?" Lucy said, coming to a halt in front of Sue.

"Did you finish cleaning your room?" Sue asked, looking up from her book.

"Yes," Lucy answered.

"All packed? Sure you have everything?" Sue pressed.

"Yes, Mom," Lucy replied, trying to hide the annoyance in her tone.

Sue placed her bookmark in her book and let the cover close. "Lucy, I just want to make sure you're absolutely certain that you're ready for school," she said. "I know you love it over there. I really do."

Guilt immediately filled Lucy's gut. "Mom, I love you—and Dad," she assured her mom. "Yes, I love it there, but I love it here, too."

Sue smiled sadly. "Oh, I know, honey," she said. "It's hard to see my daughter start to grow up."

Lucy rolled her eyes but smiled. "Mom, I'm only twelve," she mumbled.

"I know," Sue replied. "Maybe someday, if you have children of your own, you'll understand."

Lucy shrugged.

"Anyway, I just wanted to be sure that you'd finished cleaning and packing," Sue said. "Dad will be home soon to say good-bye."

Lucy nodded her understanding before hurrying back to her room. Evie was still curled up on the bed where Lucy had left her. Lucy scratched the cat's head before moving to her dresser. There was a small mirror against the wall above the dresser, and Lucy looked carefully at her reflection.

Lucy smiled to herself, her hazel eyes looking particularly bright with excitement. She felt a great deal older than she did on her last birthday, which was probably because she had since completed her first year at school. Before last year, she had never been to a school before. Physically, she was starting to look different, as well. She had grown a few inches over the past year, and she had cut six inches off her once long, black hair.

After contemplating her appearance for a while, Lucy picked up the only thing laying on the dresser top. It was a silver locket necklace with the initials _L.E._ on it. She had received it for Christmas the previous year, and—according to the giver—it had belonged to her birth mother. Lucy fastened the necklace behind her neck, and then gathered her hair in her hands and lifted it up so the chain went underneath.

"Lucy!" Dan called from below.

He must have just arrived home, Lucy determined, and she rushed out of her room and back down the stairs. "Hi, Dad!" she exclaimed, hurrying up to her father. She wrapped her arms around his middle, and he hugged her back tightly.

"All set, pumpkin?" he asked as he pulled away. "Got everything packed up and ready to go?"

"Yes, Daddy," Lucy replied, giggling.

Dan smiled sadly down at her. "Your mother and I are going to miss you very much," he said. "I hope you don't forget about us when you're off having all kinds of wonderful adventures."

"I won't forget you," Lucy said immediately. "Of course I won't. I love you both so much."

Dan chuckled quietly. "Do you need some help carrying your trunk down from your room?" he asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, please," she answered. "Even with a Feather-Light Charm on it, it's an awkward size to carry by myself."

"Well, the great part about being of age," Dan started, "is that I have the help of magic on my side." He winked at Lucy, who smiled back. "Come on; you better show me where everything is."

Lucy led her father upstairs and pointed out her trunk. As Dan levitated it out of the room and down the stairs, Lucy took a last look around the room. Everything was put away in its place. The only remaining thing was to put Evie in her carrier.

"C'mon, Evie," Lucy cooed, scooping up her cat. Evie squirmed a bit, but Lucy held fast. She picked up the carrier and put Evie inside it, who immediately mewed in protest. "Oh, shush, Evie," Lucy scolded. "When we get to the Burrow, you'll get to roam free."

Evie quieted a little, as though she had understood what Lucy had said.

"Lucy!" Sue called from below. "Lucy, there are some people here to see you!"

"What?" Lucy asked aloud, although not loud enough for her parents to hear downstairs. She picked up Evie's carrier and hurried down the stairs.

Standing in her living room was Ron Weasley, grinning widely, along with his father.

Lucy felt her jaw drop open in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked, setting Evie's carrier on the couch.

Then she bolted forward and threw her arms around Ron's neck, hugging him wildly. Ron didn't quite know how to respond, so he merely put his arms around her and squeezed back. When Lucy pulled back, she grinned at her friend.

"Happy birthday," Ron said. "All right?"

"I'm good," Lucy replied, "and you?"

"Doing well," Ron answered.

Then Arthur Weasley stepped forward, and Lucy gave him a hug, as well; Mr. Weasley was like a second father to her.

"As lovely as this surprise is, I still don't understand what you're doing here," Lucy said.

"Well, we've decided that coming to collect you might be better than all that rigmarole you had to go through last summer," Mr. Weasley explained. He held up an old Wellington boot and continued, "We'll be traveling by Portkey. Now, normally you're not meant to use Portkeys without a governing body's permission, but I think we'll be okay to risk it."

"What's a Portkey?" Lucy asked. She'd never heard of it before.

"A Portkey is a simple object with a spell put on it that allows travel between one place to another at a specific time," Mr. Weasley replied. "I've cast the spell on this one, and we have about—" He paused to check his watch. "—a minute before it's set to leave from here."

"So how do we use it?" Lucy questioned.

"You just need to be touching it," Mr. Weasley answered. "Before we leave, however, I'll send your trunk ahead of us. Your cat will have to come with us, but I think that I'd better hang onto her," he added, glancing at the carrier.

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Weasley," Lucy said. Then she turned back to her parents as Mr. Weasley waved his wand over her trunk; it disappeared.

"You be a good girl," Sue said to Lucy, her voice wobbling slightly. "Do what the Weasleys tell you to do. Write to us. Have a good time back at school."

Lucy hugged her mother tightly. "Don't worry, Mom," she murmured. "I'll be good."

Sue pulled away and gave her daughter a watery smile. Lucy moved over and hugged Dan, who echoed what his wife had said. Lucy reassured him that she would be on her best behavior.

Lucy picked up Evie's cat carrier and handed it over to Mr. Weasley. He held the boot out, and Lucy and Ron both took hold of it.

"Ten seconds," Mr. Weasley reported, looking at his watch again.

Lucy turned her head to look back at her parents. "Bye Mom—Dad," she said. "I love you!"

Dan moved to stand next to his wife, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Good-bye, munchkin," he said. "Be safe!"

"I will," Lucy promised.

"Three… two… one," Mr. Weasley said.

Lucy felt a jerk, as though an invisible force had pulled her upward. Her living room disappeared, and she felt as though she was flying very quickly through the air. Her hand was glued to the boot, and she could hear Evie meowing from her carrier.

After a few moments, Lucy's feet suddenly slammed against the ground, and she fell over. She looked up and saw that Mr. Weasley was still on his feet. Ron, however, was lying on the grass next to Lucy. Mr. Weasley offered his hand first to Lucy and then to Ron.

Once Lucy was back on her feet, she looked up at the building in front of her and smiled. The Burrow had truly become a home away from home for her, and she was excited to be back. "That _was_ much easier than having to use the International Floo Network," she commented as Mr. Weasley handed Evie's cat carrier to her.

"My thoughts exactly," Mr. Weasley said. "Molly and the others are looking forward to seeing you. Let's go inside and see where they've all gotten to."

Lucy and Ron followed Mr. Weasley into the house.

"Lucy!" Ginny, Ron's younger sister, cried happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was a year younger than Lucy and Ron, and she was going to be a first-year at Hogwarts that year.

Before Lucy could answer Ginny, she was being swooped up into a hug.

"We missed you, Lu!" George Weasley practically shouted into her ear, calling her by the nickname he and his twin brother Fred had given her the previous year. "Happy birthday!"

George had barely set her down when Fred picked her up and swung her around, as well.

"Hi, Fred—George," Lucy laughed breathlessly. "I missed you, too."

Fred and George were two years older than Lucy and Ron, and they were starting their fourth year at school.

Now Lucy was able to pull Ginny into a hug. Even though they had only met a year ago, Lucy still felt like Ginny was her younger sister.

The last Weasley to come forward was Molly, beaming at Lucy warmly. "Lucy, dear," she said, wrapping Lucy in a hug, as well. "You look very well. I hope you're ready for a special birthday dinner!"

"I am so ready for dinner," Lucy replied, smiling at the woman. "It sounds wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Mrs. Weasley said, although the look of pride on her face was unmistakable. "It'll be a little while yet. Your trunk is in the sitting room; why don't you take your things up to Ginny's room and get yourself settled?"

Lucy nodded and turned to the other Weasleys. Fred and George immediately volunteered to heft the trunk up to Ginny's room. They went up the stairs first, followed by Lucy, Ron, and Ginny.

"So, how has your summer been?" Lucy asked after the twins had set her trunk down. She let Evie out of her carrier, and the cat immediately started to sniff around the room.

"It's been all right," George answered, lounging on the cot that Lucy would be sleeping on. "Pretty much the same as every other summer—hot and slightly boring."

"I wrote to Harry asking if he wanted to come stay, too," Ron told Lucy. "I haven't heard from him all summer, though. I hope those Muggles are treating him all right."

"I haven't heard from him, either," Lucy said, frowning.

Then she noticed the look on Ginny's face as they were talking about Harry. It was a sort of dreamy face, like she was lost in thoughts far away from them. Lucy snapped her fingers in front of Ginny's eyes, and the younger girl jumped slightly.

"Sorry," she said immediately. "Dazed off a bit there."

Ron snorted. "Ginny fancies Harry," he explained to Lucy.

Ginny, whose cheeks were burning bright red, swiped at Ron, and he barely ducked out of the way in time. "I do _not_ fancy Harry!" Ginny squealed in a slightly higher voice than normal.

Lucy saw Fred and George exchange wicked smirks.

"Don't feel bad, Ginny," Fred said. "We all fancy Harry, at least a little bit. Right, George?"

"Right, Fred," George picked up. "He's so absolutely dreamy. And he's a hero! And famous!"

"Oh, so famous!" Fred continued in a falsetto. "And he is so good looking!"

"Okay, you two, lay off," Lucy said, cutting them off.

Ron was laughing uncontrollably, and Fred and George were grinning in success. Lucy flicked George's ear.

"Ow, Lucy," he cried out in mock pain. "Please, don't hurt me! I won't ever say it again, I swear!"

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at this one, and even Ginny cracked a smile.

"Oy, you lot!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! Wash up and then come down here, please!"

Lucy grinned and followed the other Weasley children to wash up, and then they all went down to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had laid out quite the feast for them, including a marvelous birthday cake. It ended up being one of Lucy's best birthdays ever.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: And we're off and running!**_

 _ **So, the bit at the beginning with the other American girls was mostly meant to open a window to Lucy's past; that she did, in fact, know other people in America, although she didn't feel particularly close to them. Paige and Samantha won't be mentioned again, but Noelle will be popping up a couple of times.**_


	2. 2: Saving Harry

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Saving Harry**

The first morning that Lucy woke up at the Burrow, she felt so happy that she thought her heart might burst. After breakfast, she caught up with Ginny while the girls helped Mrs. Weasley around the house. Lucy felt that helping was the least she could do, since the Weasleys were letting her stay at the Burrow for the remainder of the summer.

In the afternoon, she joined Ron, Fred, and George outside to play Quidditch. The Weasleys had a lot of extra brooms, and the boys let Lucy pick whichever one she wanted to use. The only thing that bothered Lucy was that Ron and the twins wouldn't let Ginny play with them.

That evening after dinner, Mr. Weasley came home late with surprising news about Harry. Lucy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny sat around the table with Mr. Weasley and hung onto his every word.

"Apparently, he performed magic in front of his Muggle family and their guests," Mr. Weasley explained as he tucked into his reheated dinner. He took a bite before continuing, "He's received an official warning from the Ministry, of course. Some of the wizards in the Improper Use of Magic Office were talking about it as I was leaving tonight."

Lucy and Ron exchanged bewildered looks.

"He knows that he's not supposed to use magic outside of school, doesn't he?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"We all got the notes at the end of the year that told us to refrain from using magic," Lucy said. "And he said himself after we got off the train in King's Cross that he knew we couldn't do magic at home."

"Maybe it was an accident," Mr. Weasley said reassuringly. "Sometimes young kids do magic and are unable to control it. Besides, he's just getting a warning; he'll still be able to go to school."

"I still think we should speak with Professor Dumbledore," Mrs. Weasley insisted. "After all that poor boy has been through, he deserves to be in a more loving home."

"I know you're worried, Molly," Mr. Weasley said, "but Dumbledore wouldn't let Harry go back to his relatives if he thought that Harry wouldn't be perfectly safe."

Mrs. Weasley then ushered the kids out of the kitchen and told them to get ready for bed.

"I think we should try writing to Harry again," Ron said when he and Lucy were climbing the stairs to the bedrooms. "I know he hasn't answered any of our letters, but it's better than nothing."

"All right, but let's try to not use Errol," Lucy suggested. "I'm worried that he might collapse if you send him on another flight."

"I tried asking Percy if I could borrow Hermes the last time I sent Harry a letter," Ron said darkly. "He wouldn't let me, though. Git," he added meanly.

"Well, I suppose Errol will have to do," Lucy said. "Let's do it in the morning, though. I'm tired."

Ron agreed, and the two parted ways when they reached Ginny's room.

 **~LJ:SD~**

So, the next day, Lucy and Ron sat down to write a letter to Harry. However, they were interrupted by Fred and George.

"Hey, Ron, Lucy," Fred began. Lucy paused with her quill poised at the top of the parchment, and Fred went on, "We were just thinking about Harry and how he hasn't answered any of your letters."

"Well, we're sending him another one right now," Lucy said. "Hopefully he'll answer this time."

"I still think it's dodgy that he hasn't answered either of you all summer," George said with a frown. "It doesn't seem like something Harry would do. I mean, he has his own owl and everything."

"According to Hermione, he hasn't answered any of her letters, either," Lucy said, pulling out the latest note she and Ron had received from their friend Hermione Granger. Lucy had secretly hoped that Hermione would join them at the Burrow sometime this summer, but it sounded like she was having a good time at home with her parents.

"You know what I think we should do?" Fred said in a low voice. "I think we should go and rescue Harry from his aunt's and uncle's house."

Lucy laughed, but neither Ron nor George did. "You can't be serious," she said. "How would we even get to him, for starters? Not to mention that we're all underage and can't be using magic."

"Leave it to us," George said, winking mischievously. "We'll get it all worked out. So, are you two in for a rescue mission?"

"Let's do it!" Ron exclaimed, looking excited.

"When do you suggest we go on this rescue mission?" Lucy asked warily.

"We haven't decided yet," Fred answered, "but definitely soon. Come on, Lucy. Please?" He and George both looked at her with pouty expressions on their faces.

Lucy shook her head but couldn't help the grin that appeared. "All right, fine," she said.

Fred and George high-fived one another before leaving the room again.

"As long as we don't do anything illegal!" Lucy added to their retreating forms.

"I guess we don't have to try and write to Harry then," Ron said.

"I suppose not," Lucy agreed, "but you know who we should write to?" Ron shook his head, and Lucy said, "Hermione. She deserves to know what's going on," she added when Ron looked skeptical.

"All right, fine," he said. "Let's get this over with."

Lucy put her quill to the parchment and began to write, while Ron made suggestions. It took them about twenty minutes before they were satisfied with the letter. Ron rolled the parchment up and sealed it, and then he tied it to Errol's leg. They sent the old owl off, hoping that he would reach Hermione in good time.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next night, Lucy was just settling down into bed when Ginny's bedroom door opened slowly. Lucy sat back up and saw Ron standing in the doorway. He snuck over to Lucy's bed, keeping quiet so Ginny wouldn't wake up.

"Tonight's the night," he whispered to her. "We're going to rescue Harry."

Lucy looked at him, bewildered. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "We only just decided to rescue him _yesterday_. How did the twins come up with a plan so quickly?"

Ron shook his head and gestured to Ginny's door. Then he quickly but quietly left the room again. Lucy hurried after him, pausing only to grab a sweater from her trunk. She exited the room and eased the door shut behind her.

"Fred and George reckon that tonight is the perfect night to do it," Ron explained. "I say we go for it. Better now than never, right?"

"I-I guess so," Lucy said, still feeling unprepared. "So, what did they come up with? How are we going to get to Harry's house?"

"You'll see if you just come downstairs with me," Ron replied vaguely. Lucy hesitated, and Ron added, "If you want to come with, then come on. We don't have much time if we want to make it back before morning."

"Before morning?" Lucy repeated in disbelief.

Ron sighed, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her down the stairs. He led her outside and over to the shed where Mr. Weasley kept all his Muggle things; he had a strange fascination with Muggles.

"Ta-da!" Ron announced as he opened the door.

Inside was an old beat up Muggle car. Fred and George were sitting in the front seat—Fred at the wheel and George next to him.

"Hop in, you two," Fred said, waving them to the car. "If we're going to go, we need to leave now. We have to get to Little Whinging and back before Mum wakes up."

"We're going to _drive_ to Little Whinging?" Lucy asked, looking skeptical. "Are we going to be able to get there and back before morning?"

"Just get in, Lucy," Ron said impatiently. "You'll see what we're going to do."

Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes, but she skirted quickly around the car and got into the back behind Fred. "Your cars are weird over here," she commented as Fred turned the key in the ignition.

"How do you mean?" George asked.

Fred put the car in gear and drove it out of the shed and onto the grass.

"The steering wheel is on the right-hand side of the car is what I mean," Lucy replied, motioning in Fred's general direction.

The boys all laughed at her.

"You are _such_ an American sometimes," George said.

"Ready, everyone?" Fred asked from behind the wheel. "Hold on tight!"

He pushed a button on the dashboard, and suddenly, to Lucy's surprise, the car began to rise into the air. Before she knew it, they were zooming through the night sky, high above the ground.

"Well, you definitely got me," she admitted. "I did _not_ see that coming."

"I told you we'd find a way," George replied, smiling.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The ride was mostly silent, with Fred and George determining the best route to take. It wasn't too long before they were flying over rows of Muggle houses.

"Aren't you worried that the Muggles might see us?" Lucy piped up anxiously from the back seat.

The twins shook their heads at the same time. "It's so late that we're betting on most of them being asleep," George explained. "Down there, Fred!" he said suddenly, pointing to a house.

Lucy started, "How do you know—?"

"Don't worry about it, Lucy," Ron interrupted.

They dipped down low and came to a halt in mid-air in front of a window with bars on it.

Ron leaned out his open window to peer into the room. "Yes!" he breathed. "Harry!"

"Oh, Merlin—he has _bars_ on his window?" Lucy gasped in horror. She craned her neck to look over Ron's shoulder and see into the room.

Then, as though he could sense their presence, Harry jerked up from his bed. He stared back at them for a moment before scrambling over to the window and opening it from the inside.

"Ron, Lucy, how did you—? What the—?" Harry gasped, noticing that they were sitting in a flying car. His mouth flopped open, not knowing what to say about the sudden appearance of a flying car carrying his two best friends and two of Ron's brothers.

"All right, Harry?" George asked.

"What's been going on?" Ron demanded. "Why haven't you been answering our letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd gotten an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles!"

"It wasn't me," Harry quickly denied, "and how did he know?"

"He works for the Ministry," Ron reminded him.

"You _know_ we're not supposed to use magic outside of school," Lucy scolded.

"You should talk," Harry shot back, gesturing at the car.

"Oh, this doesn't count," Ron said. "We're only borrowing this. It's Dad's. _We_ didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with—"

"I told you, I didn't—but it'll take too long to explain now," Harry said. "Look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back? And obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so—"

"Harry, stop!" Lucy interrupted him. "Do you really think we'd come all this way just to leave you here?"

"We've come to take you home with us," Ron finished, smiling gleefully.

"But," Harry said, looking confused, "you can't magic me out, either—"

"We don't need to," Ron replied patiently. He nodded towards the twins in the front seat. "You forget who I've got with me."

Fred tossed one end of a rope to Harry. "Tie that around the bars," he instructed.

Harry complied, warning them, "If the Dursleys wake up, I'm dead."

"Don't worry," Fred said, revving the engine a bit, "and stand back."

Harry immediately retreated to the other side of his room. Lucy and Ron pulled themselves back into the car.

Fred began to inch the car straight upwards, moving away from the window until the rope became taut. Then, with a grinding noise, the bars pulled free from the window. Ron began reeling in the rope, and Lucy saw Harry's face appear in his window. When the bars were finally up in the car, Lucy took them from Ron and put them on the floor behind Fred's seat.

Then Fred pulled up to the window again.

"Get in," Ron said to Harry.

"But all my Hogwarts stuff—" Harry said in protest. "My wand—my broomstick—"

"Where is it?" George asked from the front seat.

"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room," Harry explained.

"No problem," George said. "Out of the way, Harry."

Fred put the car in park, causing it to hover in midair. Then the twins crawled into Harry's room through the window. George pulled a hairpin out of his pocket and began picking the lock on the bedroom door.

"A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," Fred commented as George worked, "but we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow."

As he finished talking, George successfully unlocked the door. "So—we'll get your trunk," George whispered. "You grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to Ron and Lucy." He and Fred started for the stairs.

"Watch out for the bottom step—it creaks," Harry murmured after them.

Then he started going around his room, removing the few things that he wanted and handing them to Ron out in the car. When he had gathered everything, he hurried back to help Fred and George with his school trunk. Lucy and Ron waited anxiously for them to get back.

Once safely back in Harry's room, Fred dashed back to the car, jumping into the front seat. He reversed the car up to the window and popped the back end, so Harry and George could load Harry's trunk into the back. After they loaded it up, George shut the back end, and Fred realigned the car with the window, so George and Harry could get in.

"Okay, let's go," George said in a low voice, crawling out the window and into the front seat next to his brother.

Harry went to follow him as Lucy took a glance around the inside of his room one last time, noticing that he'd left something behind. She started, "Harry—!" But she was cut off by a loud screech from inside the room.

"THAT RUDDY OWL!" a voice thundered from somewhere else in the house.

"I've forgotten Hedwig!" Harry cried out. He jumped off the windowsill and back into the room, running straight for his owl. He grabbed the cage and passed it out to Ron in the car.

"C'mon, Harry, hurry!" Lucy cried as the bedroom door crashed open.

The man from the train station earlier that summer was standing in the doorway, looking furious. He let out a cry of rage and lunged for Harry, taking hold of his ankle.

"Grab him!" George commanded.

Lucy and Ron both seized Harry and pulled him hard towards the car.

"Petunia!" the large man was screaming. "He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

 _Well, this ought to wake the neighbors_ , Lucy thought sourly. She and Ron gave a massive tug on Harry's arms, and he was suddenly toppling into the backseat next to Ron.

"Put your foot down, Fred!" Ron shouted as he slammed the door shut.

Lucy, meanwhile, helped Harry right himself in his seat.

The car streaked into the air, away from the house where Harry's family stood in the window.

Harry leaned his head out of the open car window and shouted, "See you next summer!"

The rest of the car's occupants let out loud, giddy laughs.

Harry eased back into his seat, his shoulders jammed between Lucy's and Ron's. "Let Hedwig out," he said to Ron. "She can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages."

George passed the hairpin to the backseat, and soon Hedwig was free from her cage. She immediately took to the sky outside the car window.

"So—what's the story, Harry?" Ron asked immediately as the excitement died down a bit. "What's been happening?"

"Yeah, why did you get an official notice from the Ministry?" Lucy added.

Harry launched into his story, telling them of a house-elf named Dobby showing up and warning him to not go back to Hogwarts that year. Then he told them that the house-elf—not Harry—was the one who used magic to crash a large bowl of pudding in his aunt's and uncle's house. When he was finished with his story, nobody knew what to say.

"Very fishy," Fred finally spoke up.

"Definitely dodgy," George agreed, nodding. "So he wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"

"I don't think he could," Harry replied. "Like I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall." Fred and George exchanged glances in the front seat, and Harry asked, "What? Do you think he was lying to me?"

"Well," Fred started slowly, "put it this way—house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts—someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"

"Yes," Harry and Ron both said immediately, while Lucy groaned.

"Draco Malfoy," Harry continued. "He hates me."

"He hates all Gryffindors and anyone who thinks differently than him," Lucy added, scowling.

"Draco Malfoy?" George asked, turning in his seat to look at the three in the back. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Must be—it's not a very common name, is it?" Harry replied. "Why?"

"I've heard Dad talking about him," George said. "He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."

"When You-Know-Who disappeared," Fred said, also turning to look at Harry, "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Load of dung—Dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

Lucy nodded; Ron had told them something similar the year before.

"I don't know whether the Malfoys own a house-elf," Harry muttered.

"Well, whoever owns him will be an old Wizarding family, and they'll be rich," Fred explained.

"Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing," George said, "but all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden. House-elves come with big old manors and castles and places like that; you wouldn't catch one in our house.…"

There was silence for a moment.

"Anyway, I'm glad we came to get you," Ron said. "Lucy and I were getting really worried when you didn't answer any of our letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first—"

"Who's Errol?" Harry asked.

"Our owl. He's ancient," Ron complained. "It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So, then I tried to borrow Hermes—"

" _Who_?" Harry asked again.

"The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made prefect," Fred explained from up front.

"—but Percy wouldn't lend him to me," Ron said. "Said he needed him."

"Are you surprised?" Lucy asked. "He's pretty much been locked up in his room since I've been here."

"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer," George said. "He _has_ been sending a lot of letters and spending a load of time shut up in his room, and not only since you've been here, Lucy.… I mean, there're only so many times you can polish a prefect badge.… You're driving too far west, Fred," he pointed out, gesturing to the compass on the dashboard of the car.

Fred turned the wheel slightly, putting them back on course.

"So, does your dad know you've got the car?" Harry asked.

"Er—no," Ron replied, "he had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it."

"What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?" Harry asked, sounding very interested.

"He works in the most boring department," Ron answered. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

"The _what_?"

"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made. You know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house," Ron said. "Like, last year, some old witch died, and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare—Dad was working overtime for weeks."

"What happened?" Lucy asked, intrigued herself.

"The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place," Ron continued, chuckling slightly, "and one man ended up in the hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic—it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office—and they had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up."

"But—your dad," Harry stammered, looking baffled, "this car—"

Fred laughed from the front seat. "Yeah, Dad's crazy about everything to do with Muggles," he explained. "Our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided _our_ house he'd have to put _himself_ under arrest. It drives Mum mad."

"That's the main road," George announced suddenly, looking closely out the windshield. "We'll be there in ten minutes.… Just as well; it's getting light."

Fred began to bring the car lower to the ground.

"We're a little way outside the village," George continued, this time for Harry's benefit. "Ottery St. Catchpole."

The sun was just starting to rise as Fred brought the car even lower. "Touchdown!" he announced a few moments later.

They hit the ground, jostling a little bit. Fred drove the car back to where it had been stored the previous night. The five piled quickly out of the car and exited the shed. Fred and George shut the garage door behind them.

"It's not much," Ron said, watching Harry stare up at the Burrow.

"It's _wonderful_ ," Harry replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"Now, we'll go upstairs real quiet," Fred started, taking the lead, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, _Mum, look who turned up in the night!_ She'll be all pleased to see Harry, and no one need ever know we flew the car."

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot," Fred answered.

"Right," Ron said. "Come on, Harry, I sleep at the—at the top…" He trailed off, looking like he was about to be sick.

The other four turned to see what he was looking at.

" _Ah_ ," Fred said as his eyes landed on his very angry mother striding towards them.

"Oh, dear," George added.

Mrs. Weasley stopped in front of them and put her hands on her hips, looking at all of them in turn. " _So_ ," was all she said. Her tone warned them of exactly how angry she was.

"Morning, Mum," George said in a cheerful voice.

"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" Mrs. Weasley hissed at them.

Fred began, "Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to—"

" _Beds empty! No note! Car gone—could have crashed—out of my mind with worry—did you care?—never, as long as I've lived—you wait until your father gets home! We never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy—!_ "

"Perfect Percy," Fred glowered, which was the exact wrong thing to say, as it made Mrs. Weasley scream even louder.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" she shouted, poking Fred forcefully in his chest. "You could have _died_! You could have been _seen_! You could have lost your father his _job_!"

She continued to scream at her sons for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she turned to Harry, who took a step back. "I'm very pleased to see you, Harry, dear," she said in a warm voice. "Come in and have some breakfast."

Without another word, she turned and strutted back to the house. Harry looked around at the Weasleys and Lucy in bewilderment. Ron nodded encouragingly, so Harry hesitantly followed Mrs. Weasley into the house.

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was bustling around fixing breakfast. She seemed a bit distracted, and she would throw glares at her sons occasionally.

"Mrs. Weasley, would you like some help?" Lucy volunteered after a few minutes of this.

Mrs. Weasley turned, giving Lucy a calculated look, and then sighed. "No, it's all right, Lucy, dear," she said. "You just sit down. I could use some help afterwards cleaning up, though."

Lucy nodded, relieved that Mrs. Weasley wasn't angry with her.

"I don't blame _you_ , dear," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry as she began filling his plate for him. "Arthur and I have been worried about you, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron or Lucy by Friday. But really, flying an illegal car halfway across the country—anyone could have seen you."

With a wave of her wand, the dirty dishes in the sink began to clean themselves. Ron, Fred, and George took this as their cue to start eating breakfast themselves. Lucy joined in hesitantly.

"It was _cloudy_ , Mum!" Fred insisted.

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" Mrs. Weasley growled at him, brandishing her wand at him.

"They were _starving_ him, Mum!" George added.

"And you!" Mrs. Weasley said, although her expression softened considerably when she heard George's statement. She continued to prepare Harry's breakfast.

All of a sudden, there was a squeal from the entrance of the kitchen, and Lucy looked up in time to see Ginny dashing out of sight again.

"Ginny," Ron murmured to Harry. "My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," Fred added, grinning.

His mother glared at him.

"Be nice to your sister," Lucy scolded.

Fred scowled at Lucy before returning to his breakfast.

There was silence except for the scraping of silverware over plates while they all finished eating.

" _Blimey_ , I'm tired," Fred finally broke the silence. He let his silverware drop onto his plate with a clatter. "I think I'll go to bed and—"

"You will _not_ ," Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, cutting him off. "It's your own fault you've been up all night! You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again."

"Oh, Mum," Fred moaned.

"And you two," Mrs. Weasley finished, turning on her other two sons. "Lucy, if you could help me in the kitchen cleaning up this mess?"

Lucy nodded, understanding what Mrs. Weasley meant; she wasn't angry with Lucy, but she will still somewhat punishing her by not letting her go back to bed.

"You can go up to bed, dear," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry in a kind voice. " _You_ didn't ask them to fly that wretched car."

"I'll help Ron," Harry replied quickly and eagerly. "I've never seen a de-gnoming—"

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," Mrs. Weasley said. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject.…" She went to the mantelpiece above the fireplace and plucked a large book from atop it.

"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden," George insisted.

Mrs. Weasley was watching the cover of the book, where a picture of the author—a wizard named Gilderoy Lockhart—was beaming up at her. "Oh, he is marvelous," she said. "He knows his household pests, all right. It's a _wonderful_ book—"

"Mum _fancies_ him," Fred whispered quite loudly.

"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," Mrs. Weasley said, although her face was tinged pink. "All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it. And woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it," she added severely.

Her sons turned and left the kitchen, mumbling in annoyance, and Harry followed them. Lucy jumped up and stretched before beginning to clear the dishes from the table.

"I don't mean to punish you, Lucy, dear," Mrs. Weasley spoke up suddenly. "I'm sure it wasn't your idea to take that car to get Harry, but you did leave in the middle of the night. It gave me such a fright when I found that the four of you were missing."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Lucy apologized. "Nothing like that will ever happen again. I promise." She felt even guiltier now; she had helped steal Mr. Weasley's car and had scared Mrs. Weasley after they had the decency to allow her into their house. Lucy made doubly sure to clean the dishes well.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy was just finishing up when Ginny slowly stepped into the kitchen. She had changed out of her nightgown and into regular clothing. Her expression seemed anxious. "Is Harry really here?" she asked Lucy. "I wasn't just imagining it, was I?"

"Harry is really here," Lucy confirmed, nodding her head as she dried off the last plate and put it in its respectful cupboard.

"How did he get here?" Ginny asked, her voice getting high. " _When_ did he get here?"

"He got here this morning," Lucy answered. The girls were interrupted by the front door opening and slamming shut, and Lucy added to Ginny, "I'll explain later."

Mr. Weasley walked heavily into the kitchen and plopped down onto a chair.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Weasley?" Lucy offered, pulling a mug from one of the cupboards.

"Yes, Lucy, that would be wonderful," he sighed. "Good morning, girls. Sleep well?"

The girls didn't have the chance to answer him, because the boys chose that moment to hurry in from the garden. Ginny disappeared immediately, apparently not wanting to be in the room at the same time as Harry.

"How are you doing, Mr. Weasley?" Lucy asked politely, setting a full mug of tea and the teapot in front of him.

"What a night," Mr. Weasley started as the boys settled down in the chairs around the table. He reached forward and grabbed the mug Lucy had set before him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned.…" He took a nice, long swig of his tea, sighing his approval.

"Find anything, Dad?" Fred piped up.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," Mr. Weasley replied, trying and failing to suppress a yawn. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness.…"

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" George asked.

"It's just Muggle-baiting," Mr. Weasley explained heavily. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing, so they can never find it when they need it." He took another drink from his mug. "Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone, because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking—they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face." Another drink. "But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe—"

"LIKE _CARS_ , FOR INSTANCE?" Mrs. Weasley had returned to the kitchen.

Mr. Weasley started in his seat, then gave his wife a guilty look. "C-cars, Molly, dear?" he stammered.

"Yes, Arthur, _cars_ ," Mrs. Weasley repeated. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while _really_ he was enchanting it to make it _fly_."

 _Busted_ , Lucy thought.

"Well, dear," Mr. Weasley started, "I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if—er—he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth.… There's a loophole in the law, you'll find.… As long as he wasn't _intending_ to fly the car, the fact that the car _could_ fly wouldn't—"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there _was_ a loophole when you wrote that law!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed!"

Lucy's eyes widened; so, they _had_ broken the law, after all.

Mrs. Weasley continued, "For your information, Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't _intending_ to fly!"

"Harry?" Mr. Weasley repeated, looking confused. "Harry who?" He looked around at Harry, who was sitting at the table next to Ron. Mr. Weasley did a double-take before asking, "Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you. Ron's told us so much about—"

" _Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night_!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley said, seeming to completely forget that his wife was angry with him. "Did it go all right? I-I mean," he quickly backtracked after seeing the look on Mrs. Weasley's face, "that—that was very wrong, boys—very wrong indeed.…"

Ron and Harry stood from the table and slipped from the room. Ron's eyes met Lucy's, and he jerked his head towards the stairs. Lucy took this as her cue to leave the kitchen as Mrs. Weasley rose her voice to her husband once more.

Lucy followed the boys through the house and up the stairs. The door to Ginny's room shut quickly as they passed by.

"Ginny," Ron explained to Harry. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She normally never shuts up."

"Just like a certain brother of hers?" Lucy shot back, grinning.

Harry chuckled at this, and Ron muttered, "Shut up."

They trooped up the stairs until they reached the door that had Ron's name on it. They all filed in, and Harry looked around, his face full of interest.

"Your Quidditch team?" he asked, motioning to a few of the posters Ron had pinned to the walls of his room.

"The Chudley Cannons," Ron replied proudly. He pointed out his bedspread, which also sported the team's colors. "Ninth in the league."

Harry stepped into the room a bit more, still looking around, before turning back to Lucy and Ron.

"It's a bit small," Ron started. "Not like that room you had with the Muggles. And I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic; he's always banging on the pipes and groaning.…"

Harry shook his head, a smile on his face. "This is the best house I've ever been in," he stated.

Ron flushed pink, but Lucy knew he was pleased.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," she said. "I'm going to go find Ginny. See you later."

The boys said their farewells, and Lucy left the room.

As she walked back down the stairs, she grinned happily. Harry was now safe and sound at the Burrow with them, even though they had taken an illegal flying car to pick him up. Lucy was sure that the rest of the summer was going to be quite enjoyable.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: I know that Harry got his underage magic warning on his birthday, and the beginning of this chapter starts the day after his birthday, but I figured that Mr. Weasley wouldn't have heard about it until the day after it had happened.**_


	3. 3: Diagon Alley

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Diagon Alley**

A week after they had brought Harry to the Burrow, the kids' Hogwarts letters arrived. It was a bright morning, and Lucy and Ginny were sitting in the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. The mail arrived not long after Lucy had started eating her breakfast.

"Ah-ha!" Mr. Weasley said after he'd detached the pile of envelopes from the owl's leg. "Looks like your Hogwarts letters have arrived." He flipped through the letters, and he handed one first to Lucy and then to Ginny.

Ginny eagerly tore open her envelope.

"Were you accepted?" Lucy asked teasingly.

Ginny stuck her tongue out.

Lucy turned her attention to her own letter. Inside the envelope were two slips of parchment and the ticket for the Hogwarts Express. The first piece of paper informed Lucy when the train would be leaving for the beginning of the school year. The other was the equipment list, which only contained books.

 _Second-Year Students Will Require:  
_ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 _by Miranda Goshawk  
_ Break with a Banshee _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Gadding with Ghouls _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Holidays with Hags _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Travels with Trolls _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Voyages with Vampires _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Wanderings with Werewolves _by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_ Year with the Yeti _by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Lucy frowned as she read through the booklist. She recognized the name Gilderoy Lockhart; he was the author that Mrs. Weasley was so fond of. Lucy wondered why they would need seven of Lockhart's books that year.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron appeared at the bottom of the stairs, which prompted Ginny to accidentally drop her bowl to the floor. She dove after it, and when she righted herself, her face was flushed pink.

"Letters from school," Mr. Weasley announced as the boys sat down. He passed two of the letters down to them. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry—doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got 'em, too," he finished when Fred and George stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and still in their pajamas.

The boys all tore into their letters to find their booklists.

"You've been told to get all of Lockhart's books, too!" Fred exclaimed, looking at Harry's list. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan—bet it's a witch."

"That lot won't come cheap," George added, glancing to his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive.…"

"Well, we'll manage," Mrs. Weasley said firmly, although her expression was not as certain as her tone. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny, sounding genuinely curious.

Ginny nodded, blushing immediately as Harry addressed her.

"Morning, all," Percy called, breezing into the kitchen fully dressed and wearing his prefect badge. "Lovely day." He sat down in the final empty chair, only to quickly jump up from it. He plucked up the thing that he'd sat on.

"Errol!" Ron exclaimed. Percy handed over the owl, and Ron pulled out the letter that was wedged under Errol's wing. " _Finally_ —he's got Hermione's answer," Ron said.

"Ron and I told her that we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys," Lucy explained to Harry.

Meanwhile, Ron took Errol over to a perch by the door and set him onto it, but the bird immediately fell over. Ron laid him down on a nearby counter instead. "Pathetic," he muttered as he tore open the letter from Hermione. He read it aloud.

 _Dear Ron, Lucy, and Harry if you're there,_

 _I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, because that would get Harry in trouble, too._

 _I've been really worried, and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once? Perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl, though, because I think another delivery might finish your one off._

 _I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course_ —

"How _can_ she be?" Ron interrupted himself. "We're on vacation!"

— _and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?_

 _Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love from Hermione_.

"Well, that fits in nicely," Mrs. Weasley said. "We can go and get all of your things then, too." She stood and started to take the empty plates off the table. "What're you all up to today?"

"Playing Quidditch out in the paddock," George replied, yawning.

"Let me guess," Lucy spoke up. "No girls allowed?" The boys exchanged guilty looks with one another, and Lucy added with a scowl, "You know that Ginny and I can outfly any of you." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ginny blush furiously.

"Ginny wouldn't be able to fly if Harry was out there, too," Ron sniggered meanly.

"Be nice to your sister," Lucy scolded, glaring at him. "C'mon, Ginny. Let's go." She rose and stomped out of the kitchen, with Ginny hot on her heels.

"It's okay, Lucy," Ginny said when the girls had reached Ginny's bedroom. "I don't want to play Quidditch with them anyway. Besides, Ron's right," she added, her cheeks reddening. "I don't think I could fly in front of Harry."

Lucy gave her friend a calculating look. "I know that you like Harry," she said, "but you have to be yourself around him. Otherwise he'll never get to know you for who you are."

Ginny looked down in shame. "I know," she murmured, "but—I fancy him. I don't want to do anything to embarrass myself in front of him. Which, in turn, is making me embarrass myself in front of him." She held up her arm, pointing to her elbow. "I put my elbow in the butter dish this morning, and all he did was ask me if I was starting at Hogwarts this year."

"Well, give it some time," Lucy said encouragingly. "If things are meant to work out, then they will. I mean, think about it! He's only twelve, and you're almost eleven.… Still plenty of time to make decisions." She grinned at Ginny reassuringly.

"I suppose you're right," Ginny replied.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The following Wednesday, Lucy and Ginny were woken up by Mrs. Weasley.

"I know it's a little early, girls," she began apologetically, "but I really need some help with breakfast this morning."

Lucy and Ginny immediately sat up in their beds.

"Make sure to wear your robes. We're going to Diagon Alley after breakfast," Mrs. Weasley added as she left the room.

After groaning to each other about how early it was, the girls got out of bed and changed into their regular clothes. Then they pulled their robes on and went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Weasley prepare breakfast.

"Oh, thank you, girls," Mrs. Weasley said as they arrived. "There's just so much to get done before we go to Diagon Alley. Lucy, if you could set the table, please? Ginny, watch over the bacon."

Ginny took her place in front of the stove, and Lucy began pulling dishes out of the cupboards.

"I'm going to go wake up the boys," Mrs. Weasley announced as she bustled out of the kitchen.

"So," Lucy said to Ginny through a yawn, "are you excited to get your wand and stuff? I remember that I was beyond excited to get my school things last year."

"I suppose I am," Ginny replied. "More so for the wand than anything else."

Mr. Weasley sauntered into the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Tea, Mr. Weasley?" Lucy asked immediately, smiling at him.

"Yes, please," Mr. Weasley replied gratefully. "Good morning, girls."

"Morning, Dad," Ginny said brightly, leaning away from the stove to kiss her father on his balding head.

Mrs. Weasley entered the room again. "I'll finish the bacon, Ginny. Can you please get the bread out and start making sandwiches?" she instructed in a no-nonsense tone.

Ginny immediately retrieved the bread and started making the sandwiches her mother wanted. Lucy finished making the tea and set it on the table in front of Mr. Weasley. He filled the mug in front of him and took a long swig.

"Lucy, you make a wonderful pot of tea," he commented.

Lucy ducked her head in gratitude. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley," she murmured.

Then Ron and Harry appeared in the kitchen, followed closely by Percy.

"Good morning, boys," Mr. Weasley said cheerfully.

"Morning, Father," Percy said. "Is there tea? Ah, yes." He helped himself to a cup as Ron and Harry sat wordlessly at the table, both still looking quite sleepy.

"Where are Fred and George?" Mrs. Weasley mused distractedly, finishing up the last of the bacon strips. "Ginny, when you're finished, go ahead and let everyone start eating," she added. "I'm going to see where those two got to."

Ginny nodded as her mother rushed out of the kitchen again.

"Is she always like this when the family is going somewhere?" Lucy asked Mr. Weasley, taking a seat at the table.

"Ah, yes," Mr. Weasley answered. "She's very good at getting frantic when we want to be somewhere. I think she's just worried that she'll forget to do something before we leave."

Ginny brought a platter full of bacon sandwiches to the table. She surprisingly didn't spill anything, even though Harry was sitting in the room. Then she sat down next to Lucy, and they all dug into their breakfast.

About a minute later, there was a commotion on the stairs.

"When I tell you to wake up, I mean that it's time to wake up!" Mrs. Weasley was shouting. "It does not mean that you can choose whether or not to keep sleeping!"

Fred and George entered the kitchen, looking a bit guilty, with their mother right behind them. The boys quickly dropped into their chairs and helped themselves to the sandwiches.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they were finished eating and the table was cleared, they all gathered in front of the fireplace. All the children were wearing their robes and had their equipment lists in their pockets.

Mrs. Weasley grabbed a flowerpot off the mantel. "We're running low, Arthur," she said after checking the pot's contents. "We'll have to buy some more today.… Ah, well—guests first! After you, Harry, dear!"

She held the pot out to Harry, and he looked extremely confused.

"Wh-what am I supposed to do?" he asked, staring at the pot.

"He's never traveled by Floo Powder before," Ron spoke up. "Sorry, Harry; I forgot."

"Never?" Mr. Weasley asked, sounding confused himself. "Then how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"I went on the Underground," Harry replied.

"Really?" Mr. Weasley was intrigued now. "Were there _escapators_? How exactly—?"

"Not _now_ , Arthur," Mrs. Weasley sighed in annoyance. "Floo Powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before—"

"He'll be all right, Mum," Fred interrupted. "Harry, watch us first."

He put his hand into the pot and drew a handful of Floo Powder out. Then he threw the powder into the fire, and when the flames turned green, he stepped inside and shouted, "Diagon Alley!" He was whipped out of sight immediately.

"Here, Lucy—go on before me," George murmured quietly while his mother explained to Harry how it was done.

"You must speak clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley was saying as Lucy grabbed some Floo Powder of her own. "Be sure to get out at the right gate—"

"Watch, Harry!" Lucy called from the fireplace, throwing her handful of powder into it; she was quite used to traveling by Floo Powder. "It's a lot easier than they're making it sound. Remember to keep your mouth shut!" Then she stepped into the flames and stated, "Diagon Alley." She whooshed away.

Fireplaces whizzed by as Lucy flew through the network. She was sure to keep her mouth shut and her elbows tucked in tight. Soon enough, she was slowing down, and then she was deposited onto the floor of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Fred held out his hand and helped her up.

About half a minute later, George came tumbling out of the fire, as well. "They're going to scare him to death," he reported. "They were giving him too much advice, if you ask me."

Lucy shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be fine," she said.

Mr. Weasley appeared next. "Harry should be just after me," he informed them.

The four of them stood and waited for the next person to come out of the fire. But it wasn't Harry; it was Ron.

"Where's Harry?" Lucy and Ron asked at the same time. They looked at each other with panicked expressions.

"Calm down, kids," Mr. Weasley said immediately. "We'll wait for Molly, Ginny, and Percy to come through, and then we can decide what to do from there."

"But Harry could be anywhere!" Lucy said, her voice anxious.

At that moment, Ginny came stumbling out of the fireplace. She looked up and saw the looks of concern on their faces. "What happened?" she asked, brushing soot from her robes.

Before they could answer Ginny, Percy appeared out of the fireplace. They waited in silence until Mrs. Weasley arrived, bringing up the rear. She took one look at all their faces and did the math.

"Where's Harry?" she asked shrilly. "Did he not come out of the fireplace before Ron?"

Lucy, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley shook their heads.

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Oh, that poor boy! What should we do, Arthur?"

"Well, at least he won't be particularly hard to find," Lucy reasoned. "After all, he is Harry Potter. Everyone we ask will know for sure if they've seen him."

This didn't seem to ease Mrs. Weasley's worry.

"It'll be all right, Molly," Mr. Weasley said. "We'll find him. C'mon, boys, Lucy. We'll check every shop on the way up to Gringotts."

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

Mr. Weasley led the group out of the back door of the pub and into a small alleyway with a brick wall blocking their path. He pulled his wand out and tapped a specific brick. The wall immediately rearranged itself, and an archway appeared in the center. The Weasleys hurried through the barrier, entering Diagon Alley.

They began to check every shop on the way up the alley to see if anyone had seen Harry. Unfortunately, there was no sign of him in any of the shops they stopped in.

"Wait!" Ron cried as they hurried down the main road. "Wait, there's Hagrid! I think Harry's with him!"

Without another word, the Weasleys and Lucy shot off towards Gringotts, where the gamekeeper of Hogwarts Rubeus Hagrid was guiding Harry. As they neared Harry and Hagrid, they saw that Hermione Granger was standing with them, as well.

"Harry," Mr. Weasley gasped out when they'd reached them. "We _hoped_ you'd only gone one grate too far.…" He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead with it. "Molly's frantic—she's coming now.…"

"Hermione!" Lucy said happily. She crashed into her friend, pulling her into a tight hug.

Hermione laughed breathlessly. "Nice to see you too, Lucy," she said, hugging back.

"Where did you come out?" Ron asked Harry.

"Knockturn Alley," Hagrid answered for him, looking unhappy.

" _Excellent_!" Fred and George exclaimed at the same time.

"We've never been allowed in," Ron explained.

"I should ruddy well think not," Hagrid muttered darkly.

Then Mrs. Weasley caught up to them, practically dragging Ginny behind her. "Oh, Harry!" she said. "Oh, my dear—you could have been anywhere!" She promptly pulled out a clothes brush from her bag and started brushing the soot from Harry's robes, and Mr. Weasley tended to Harry's broken glasses.

"Well, gotta be off," Hagrid said as Mrs. Weasley shook his hand and thanked him repeatedly. "See yeh at Hogwarts!"

They all bid him good-bye as he walked away, parting the crowd easily. Then Lucy, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys turned to climb the steps to the bank.

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry began. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley asked promptly.

"No, he was selling," Harry answered, looking puzzled and curious.

"So he's worried," Mr. Weasley said, smirking. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something—"

"You be _careful_ , Arthur," Mrs. Weasley cut in, pronouncing each word distinctly. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew."

A goblin at the door bowed low as they entered Gringotts.

"So, you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" Mr. Weasley demanded, looking slightly insulted.

However, at that moment, Hermione had led them over to her parents and introduced them.

Mr. Weasley was thoroughly distracted. "But you're _Muggles_!" he exclaimed with glee. "We _must_ have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He gestured to the paper money in Hermione's father's hand, who was looking bewildered at Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm.

Lucy giggled to herself before Mrs. Weasley began ushering her children, Harry, and Lucy to the front of the bank.

"Meet you back here," Ron told Hermione.

Mrs. Weasley led them to one of the counters at the front of the bank. She talked briefly with one of the goblins seated behind it, and soon another goblin proceeded to lead them down to their vaults.

Lucy had her very own vault somewhere beneath the ground. Her vault had been left to her by her real parents, and Dan and Sue had given her the key a year prior. They had also put some money in, adding to the money that had been sitting in the vault already, so Lucy would be less likely to run out.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After stopping in at Lucy's, Harry's, and the Weasleys' vaults, they left Gringotts with Hermione and her parents. Once outside, the group decided to split up.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," Mrs. Weasley said before they separated.

Percy bowed out immediately, hurrying off on his own.

"And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" Mrs. Weasley added sharply as an afterthought, looking pointedly at the twins.

Fred and George quickly agreed before sprinting away.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and said, "Come along, Ginny. We need to get you some robes."

Ginny trailed obediently after her mother.

"We _must_ have a drink," Mr. Weasley said to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "The kids will be fine together. Muggles are absolutely _fascinating_!" With that, he led them back down the alley towards the Leaky Cauldron, leaving Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione on their own.

"So, what should we do first?" Lucy asked, stretching her arms above her head.

"Let's get some ice cream," Harry replied. "My treat."

So, they wandered down the alley until they found the ice cream shop, and Harry bought four strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams. They all began to greedily lick their treats.

"Let's keep moving," Hermione suggested. "I need some new parchment and ink."

They ventured onward. Ron froze outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies, gazing transfixed at a set of Chudley Cannon robes in the window.

"Ron!" Hermione said firmly. "I need to get some parchment and ink. C'mon."

Lucy grabbed hold of Ron's elbow and jerked him away from the store.

After Hermione had bought her things, they continued down the alley, stopping into random shops along the way. They ran into the twins at the local joke shop, and then they saw Percy in a small junk shop, reading a book about former Hogwarts prefects.

"'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy. He's got it all planned out.… He wants to be Minister of Magic," Ron told Lucy, Harry, and Hermione as they exited the shop.

 **~LJ:SD~**

An hour after they had split off from the group, Lucy and her friends found their way to Flourish and Blotts to meet up with the rest of the Weasley family. The crowd both inside and outside the bookshop was very large. A banner was hanging from the roof of the shop, declaring that Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be inside signing autographs that day.

"Isn't that the author your mom likes so much?" Lucy asked Ron, eyeing the crowd. It seemed to be mostly made up of women.

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione exclaimed, smiling widely. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

"You know about this guy?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, yes," Hermione replied. "He's absolutely wonderful, and his books are such a great read. You should read them sometime, Lucy; you really should. You wouldn't believe some of the things he's done.…"

Ron snorted at this.

The four of them approached the door to the shop, where a wizard was trying to soothe the crowd storming to get in. "Calmly, please, ladies," he was begging. "Don't push, there—mind the books, now.…"

Ron led the way through the door, and the other three followed, squeezing between many excited-looking witches.

Right at the front of the shop was where they found _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ , of which they each grabbed a copy. Then they looked around to find the rest of the Weasleys.

"C'mon—I think I see Mum up there," Ron said finally, gesturing forward towards the middle of the shop.

They hurried single-file to meet with the rest of Ron's family, who were standing in line with Hermione's parents to get autographs from Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Oh, there you are—good," Mrs. Weasley said when they rejoined the group. She was looking quite as excited as the other witches in the shop. "We'll be able to see him in a minute.…"

The line moved slowly forward until they could see the desk that the author was sitting at. Around him were copies of _Magical Me_ and portraits of himself. He was beaming at the witches in front of him, basking in their compliments. Another man was floating around him, taking pictures.

"Out of the way, there," this man said as he elbowed his way around Ron. "This is for the _Daily Prophet._ …"

"Who cares?" Ron grumbled irritably.

Lockhart looked up from the table, and his eyes zeroed in on Harry. He leapt up immediately. "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?" he exclaimed quite loudly.

The crowd tittered excitedly, nodding their approval.

Meanwhile, Lockhart shot forward and grabbed Harry by the arm, heaving him up in front of the table. The crowd applauded while Lucy and Ron exchanged scowls. The man with the camera bounced around, taking as many pictures as he could. Lockhart muttered something to Harry, but Lucy couldn't make out what it was.

Finally, Lockhart threw his arm around Harry's shoulder and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for quite some time!" He beamed out at his audience, who were hanging onto his every word. "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography—which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge," Lockhart added, and the crowd applauded again.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"He had _no idea_ that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me_ ," Lockhart went on. "He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the _real_ magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd was absolutely ecstatic—including, to Lucy's dismay, Hermione, who was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"I can't believe it! He's really going to be teaching us at Hogwarts!" she said gleefully. "After all he's done, he should be a great professor! He really ought to be!"

Lockhart, meanwhile, was thrusting a complete set of his books into Harry's arms. Then he let Harry go, who stumbled away and over to where Ginny was standing off to the side.

"C'mon; we don't need an autograph," Lucy said to Hermione and Ron, motioning to follow Harry.

Hermione looked downcast, and Ron hissed at her, "You'll have plenty of time to get his autograph at school!"

Hermione scowled at him but followed, too.

They pushed and shoved their way over to where Harry and Ginny were standing. When they saw who else was standing with them, Lucy let out a loud groan: it was Draco Malfoy.

"Oh, it's you," Ron sneered at the Slytherin. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a _shop_ , Weasley," Malfoy shot back. "I suppose your family will go hungry for a month just to pay for all those." He motioned to the books stashed in Ginny's cauldron; they were the ones that Lockhart had just given Harry.

Ron flushed angrily, dropping his book into Ginny's cauldron, as well. Lucy and Harry took that as the cue to grab the back of Ron's robes.

"Ron!" Mr. Weasley was coming through the crowd with the twins. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here. Let's go outside."

"Well, well, well—Arthur Weasley." A tall, thin man approached them, and Lucy knew straightaway that this had to be Malfoy's father. He stopped behind his son, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley replied, nodding curtly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Mr. Malfoy drawled. "All those extra raids.… I hope they're paying you overtime." He plucked a beat-up looking book from inside Ginny's cauldron and held it up between his thumb and index finger. "Obviously not," he sneered. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Lucy balled her fists up at her sides and glared at the man in front of them.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley retorted.

"Clearly," Mr. Malfoy said. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower.…"

Suddenly, Mr. Weasley was diving at Mr. Malfoy. The noise in the bookstore became an uproar; Fred and George were egging their father on, while Mrs. Weasley yelled at him to stop. The shop assistant looked beside himself.

"Break it up, there, gents. Break it up," a voice boomed over the noise. It was Hagrid, returning once again to save the day. He had the two men separated immediately.

"Here, girl," Mr. Malfoy snarled, holding out Ginny's book that he still had in his hand, "take your book—it's the best your father can give you." He pulled himself out of Hagrid's grip and motioned to his son to follow.

"Like father, like son, Draco!" Lucy screamed after them. "You're all a bunch of bullies!"

"Lucy," Mrs. Weasley admonished softly.

"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Lucy muttered.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," Hagrid said to Mr. Weasley, attempting to help fix his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family. Everyone knows tha'—no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter—bad blood, tha's wha' it is—come on now—let's get outta here."

The group hurried to pay for their textbooks and then exited the building, much to the shop assistant's relief. Hagrid parted ways from them after another farewell.

"A _fine_ example to set for your children," Mrs. Weasley began immediately as they walked down the alley. " _Brawling_ in public.… _What_ Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought—"

"He was pleased," Fred cut in, grinning widely. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the _Daily Prophet_ if he'd be able to work the fight into his report—said it was all publicity."

They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron again and bid farewell to the Grangers, who would be leaving the pub by the front door to return them to the Muggle world.

Lucy gave Hermione a long, hard squeeze. "We'll see you on September first!" she said. "I hope you have a good time at home until then."

"You, too," Hermione replied, smiling, and then she departed with her parents.

Lucy lined up at the fireplace with the rest of the Weasleys and waited for her turn to go back to the Burrow. She was excited for the rest of the summer, but she was equally—if not more—excited to be returning to school in just a few short weeks.

 **~LJ:SD~**


	4. 4: Girls' Night Out

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Girls' Night Out**

The end of summer vacation was upon them. On their last full day at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley went all out in preparing them nothing short of a feast. She had Lucy and Ginny helping her for most of the afternoon, which made Ginny extremely unhappy.

"Ginevra Weasley!" her mother finally shouted. "If you don't get to washing those dishes, you will not get to have any dinner at all!"

At this, Ginny stopped whining, although she glowered at Mrs. Weasley behind her back.

The dinner was very appetizing. Everyone ate until their bellies were bursting. Fred and George let off some Filibuster fireworks that sent shooting stars all around the kitchen. Even Mrs. Weasley didn't have the heart to tell them off for lighting them indoors.

Mrs. Weasley sent them to bed soon after dinner, insisting that they needed their rest because they had to get up early the next morning. Lucy was too excited to think about sleeping; however, when she and Ginny trooped upstairs and got into their beds, Lucy was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. That night, she dreamed of Hogwarts.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next morning was hectic to say the least. Lucy was thankful that she had packed everything in the days before, although it did take her a while to find and coax Evie out of her hiding place under George's bed. Lucy scooped the cat into her arms and took her down into the kitchen.

"Oh, Lucy, dear, there you are," Mrs. Weasley said. "Is your truck all packed?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Lucy replied. "Would you like a hand with breakfast?"

"Oh, Lucy, sometimes you are such a life saver," Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief. "I've just been making toast, so if you wouldn't mind watching it?"

"Not at all," Lucy answered cheerfully. She set Evie down in a kitchen chair and moved over to watch the food.

"Sometimes you are more helpful than my own daughter," Mrs. Weasley said, chuckling slightly, before she hurried from the kitchen.

 **~LJ:SD~**

As the morning went on, various Weasleys came into the kitchen to claim some toast before running out again.

"Morning, Lu," Fred said as he breezed into the kitchen for the third time.

"Good morning, Fred," Lucy giggled. "Do you finally have your trunk packed?"

"Why, yes, I do," Fred replied, picking up a slice of toast and popping it into his mouth. "Honestly, though," he continued through a full mouth of food, "it'll be much better once we get back to Hogwarts."

Lucy smiled in agreement.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Finally, Mr. Weasley and the boys were pulling the trunks out to the car. Lucy was surprised to see that Mr. Weasley had magically modified the car so that all nine of them could fit quite nicely into it.

"Not a word to Molly," Mr. Weasley murmured to her and Harry, who were both marveling over how much space the car now had on the inside.

Once all the trunks were loaded, the five boys piled into the backseat. Mrs. Weasley ushered Lucy and Ginny into the front seat next to Mr. Weasley. Lucy was holding her cat carrier on her lap, and she settled comfortably into her spot.

"Muggles _do_ know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" Mrs. Weasley commented as she slid into the car next to Ginny and pulled the door shut. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"

Lucy suppressed a giggle, and then they were on their way.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Or were they?

Not a minute later, they turned around and hurried back so George could find his box of Filibuster fireworks. Not long after that, they had to go back to the house once more, so Fred could retrieve his broomstick. Then, almost to the highway, they had to return a final time when Ginny started whining that she had forgotten her diary.

"Molly, dear," Mr. Weasley started tentatively as Ginny lunged back into the car.

" _No_ , Arthur," Mrs. Weasley replied firmly, as though she knew exactly what her husband was about to suggest.

"No one would see," Mr. Weasley insisted. "This little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed—that'd get us up in the air—then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes, and no one would be any the wiser—"

"I said _no_ , Arthur—not in broad daylight."

This effectively put an end to the conversation, and the ride to King's Cross Station was a quiet yet tense one.

 **~LJ:SD~**

As soon as they'd reached the station and the car was turned off, Mr. Weasley dashed off to get them trolleys for their trunks. It was a quarter to eleven; they had fifteen minutes to make it onto the train on time.

They reached the barrier with five minutes to spare.

"Percy first," Mrs. Weasley said, checking an overhead clock.

Percy hurried through the barrier, followed closely by Mr. Weasley. Then, like the year before, Fred went through first, then his twin, and Lucy ran after them.

"C'mon, Lucy!" George called from the closest train compartment. He and Fred helped Lucy load her trunk onto the train.

"Let's go find Mum and Dad," Fred said.

The three of them hopped down onto the platform and ran through the train's mist until they found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing with a very nervous-looking Ginny.

"There you are," Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief. She rummaged around in her bag for a moment and began to pull out sandwiches. She handed one each to Fred and George and then said, "You boys look after Ginny this year, do you hear? I hope you have a good term." She kissed first Fred and then George on their cheeks. "Quickly, get onto the train!"

Fred and George complied after saying a quick farewell to their father.

Mrs. Weasley turned her attention to Lucy and Ginny, handing them a sandwich each, as well.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Lucy said, taking the sandwich offered to her. "Where are Ron and Harry?"

"I'm sure they're on the train somewhere," Mrs. Weasley replied. She pulled out two more sandwiches and handed them to Lucy, as well. "Give these to them when you see them, would you, dear?"

Lucy nodded.

"You and Ginny get on board, now. You should be leaving any moment." Mrs. Weasley gave Lucy a kiss on the cheek and then hugged her daughter tight. "Have a good year, Ginny," she said, her voice thick.

"Make us proud," Mr. Weasley added, also wrapping Ginny in a hug. He gave Lucy a brief hug next. "You have a good term, too, kiddo," he added.

Lucy smiled and nodded.

Then the train whistle sounded, alerting them that it was about to leave the station.

"C'mon, Ginny," Lucy said. "You can sit with me on the way to school." She led the younger girl up into the train, where they stopped to wave out the window to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

A moment later, the train began to pull away from the station. Lucy walked down the corridor, looking for an open compartment, and Ginny trailed along behind her.

"Ah, here we are," Lucy said once they had found an empty compartment.

She slid the door open, and the girls entered it. Ginny shut the door behind them.

"So, how are you feeling?" Lucy asked as they settled into their seats.

"Nervous," Ginny replied. "I've heard so many stories from all my brothers that I'm not even sure what to believe anymore."

"Well, tonight is just the Sorting Ceremony," Lucy told her encouragingly. "Well, and the start-of-term feast, but the sorting is far more important. And all you have to do is put the Sorting Hat on, although it _is_ in front of the entire school."

Ginny nodded.

Lucy then turned her attention to her cat carrier. She opened the door, and Evie slowly stepped out, stretching deeply. Then the cat meowed once before beginning to sniff her surroundings.

At that moment, their compartment door slid open.

Hermione stood in the doorway, beaming at them. "Hi, Lucy! Hi, Ginny!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you two. But, wait.… Where're Harry and Ron?" Her grin vanished quickly as she realized that the boys were not present in the compartment.

"I'm sure they're in their own compartment somewhere else," Lucy reasoned.

Hermione shook her head worriedly. "I've looked up and down this train multiple times," she said. "I couldn't find you, and I never found those boys, not in any compartment."

"Do you think they're not here?" Lucy asked, concern beginning to take her over. "Do you think they missed the train?"

Ginny looked between the older girls fearfully.

Hermione plopped down into the seat next to Lucy. "I'm not sure," she said, "but that's how it would seem."

The three girls looked at each other and said nothing for a moment.

Lucy was quite worried at this point; if Harry and Ron hadn't made it onto the train, how would they get to Hogwarts? "I'm sure they'll be okay, where ever they are," she finally said aloud. "If nothing else, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley probably know what to do. That's assuming Ron and Harry met back up with your parents, Ginny."

"And what if they didn't?" Ginny asked.

There was silence once more.

"They'll be fine," Lucy insisted after a moment. "You'll see. We'll see them in the Great Hall for the feast."

The girls sat back in their seats, silence taking over. Then Lucy curled up on her seat and closed her eyes, drifting off for a well-deserved nap.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A few hours later, Lucy stirred just as the food trolley came rumbling by. The woman pushing the cart rapped her knuckles on their compartment door, and Hermione hopped up to open it.

"Anything from the trolley, girls?" the woman asked.

Lucy and Hermione eagerly bought some candy. Lucy bought a few extra things for Ginny, knowing that she didn't have much spending money.

"Here you go," Lucy said when she and Hermione had returned to the compartment, handing Ginny some treats. "I hope that you like Chocolate Frogs."

Ginny accepted them gratefully. "Thanks, Lucy," she said. "You really didn't have to do that."

Lucy waved a hand dismissively.

"So, did you have a good nap?" Hermione asked in a slightly teasing tone.

Lucy rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "We woke up pretty early this morning, okay?" she shot back.

Hermione giggled and turned to Ginny. "Are you excited to finally be starting at Hogwarts, Ginny?" she asked.

"Yes," Ginny answered. "I've been wanting to go to Hogwarts for as long as I can remember. It's hard to be the seventh child in a family. You know, having to watch all my brothers go off to school, learn to use magic, and make friends.…"

"I guess neither of us can really relate," Lucy said, gesturing to Hermione as she spoke. "We're both only children."

"I suppose that's true," Ginny replied. "Well, you can pretend to know how I felt, watching my six brothers leave and have adventures without me. There were a lot of days where it was just me and my mum." At this, she rolled her eyes.

"Your mum seems so sweet," Hermione said.

"She _is_ really sweet," Lucy assured her.

"Yeah, but you guys didn't grow up with her as your mum," Ginny bit back.

"But you're the youngest and the only girl," Lucy said. "How bad could it have been for you growing up in your house?"

"We're a very competitive group," Ginny replied. "So now I can finally be on semi-even footing with the rest of them, what with us all at Hogwarts now. Except Bill and Charlie, of course." She unwrapped the sandwich that Mrs. Weasley had given to her. "Well, at least she makes a good sandwich."

Then there was another knock at their compartment door. Hermione jumped up and opened it, and a boy stumbled in. It was Neville Longbottom, a fellow second-year Gryffindor.

"Hi, Neville!" Lucy said, smiling at her friend. "What are you up to?"

"Hi, Lucy. Hi, Hermione," Neville replied. "I'm kind of hiding out from Malfoy."

Lucy's smile dropped immediately. "What did that prick do this time?" she asked, anger flaring in her instantly.

"He cornered me in the corridor and demanded some of my Chocolate Frogs," Neville replied. Then, trying to change the subject, he asked, "Where are Harry and Ron?"

"We're not sure where they are," Hermione answered.

"Um, hold on one minute," Lucy butted in. "We'll worry about Harry and Ron later. First, we're going to deal with this whole Malfoy problem. Neville, what did we tell you last year? You need to stand up for yourself!"

"I know—I know," Neville mumbled. "He threatened to jinx me, though."

Lucy huffed in anger. "Malfoy," she growled. "That boy is going to get what's coming to him."

Ginny cleared her throat. "As delightful as this conversation has been, I have yet to be introduced to your friend," she said, scowling slightly.

Lucy winced. "Sorry," she said. "Neville, this is Ginny, Ron's younger sister. Ginny, this is Neville Longbottom. He's in our year."

Ginny stuck her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Neville," she said.

Neville returned the gesture, giving her a small smile. "So… Harry and Ron?" he prompted. "You haven't seen them?"

"Well, Ginny and I came to the train station with them this morning," Lucy replied.

"They were supposed to follow Mum and me through the barrier," Ginny said. "We didn't stay long enough to see if they had actually come through, though. Mum was too busy trying to get me onto the train before it left."

"We were running a bit late," Lucy added for the others' benefits.

"Okay, say they didn't make it through the barrier in time, and the train left without them," Hermione said. "What do you think they did?"

"Hopefully they found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Lucy answered. "If the boys had missed the train, at least they had some adults to help them out. Maybe they would go back to the Burrow and Floo to Hogwarts or something."

"I'm glad I didn't miss the train," Ginny mumbled.

"They may not have," Lucy said. "Just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean that they aren't on here somewhere."

Hermione and Neville were both shaking their heads before Lucy had finished her sentence.

"I looked all over the train for you all as soon as it had left," Hermione reminded her. "I must have been to all the compartments twice before I finally found you and Ginny."

"I looked all over, too," Neville said quietly. "I was trying to find somewhere to sit."

Lucy frowned. She didn't want to believe that the boys may not be on the train, but she knew that all the evidence was pointing towards the fact that they had missed it.

Their compartment door slid open at that point, and Lucy groaned when she saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Well, well, well," Draco Malfoy drawled. "Looks like Longbottom found some backup. Too bad they're a bunch of girls!"

"I could knock the stuffing out of you any day, Malfoy," Lucy shot back.

Malfoy smirked. "So, where are Potter and Weasley?" he asked in a taunting voice.

The four in the compartment stayed quiet, refusing to give into Malfoy.

"You mean you don't _know_?" Malfoy asked after a few moments of silence. He looked at his sidekicks—his fellow second-year Slytherins, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle—with a look of pure glee on his face. "You _must_ have heard the rumors by now. Especially _you_ , Jones."

Lucy scowled. "Either spit it out or leave, slimeball," she spat at him.

"Well, when you put it that way, I think leaving you in suspense sounds like a much better idea," Malfoy said, but he didn't get any more words out before Lucy had her wand pointed at his face.

"Either tell us or _leave_ ," she repeated in a harsh voice. She thought she saw Malfoy swallow uncomfortably.

"All right, all right," he said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "Are you sure you're not a Weasley, what with that fiery temper?"

Ginny stood quickly, her wand also out and in the boy's face. Crabbe and Goyle had their wands out, as well, puffing their chests out to make themselves look bigger.

"If you speak ill about my family, I will curse you right here, right now," Ginny warned.

Malfoy looked surprised for a moment before a wicked grin grew on his face. "Ah, I almost forgot that there was _another_ Weasley starting this year," he sniggered. "I bet you don't even know any curses, first-year."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm a first-year, but I also have six older brothers," she replied. "I've heard a few curses before, and I can take care of myself."

"Malfoy, are you going to tell us your little secret, or do I have to escort you into the corridor?" Lucy asked.

Malfoy let out a laugh. "Well, apparently your precious Potter and his sidekick Weasley stole a flying car to get to Hogwarts, since they didn't make it to the train on time," he explained.

Lucy's mouth flew open in surprise, and Ginny blanched. Malfoy took no notice; rather, he turned to Crabbe and Goyle and nodded to them. The two of them exited the compartment as Malfoy looked back at Lucy and the others.

"Well, I suppose we'll see you when we get to Hogwarts," Malfoy said. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can say the same for Potter and Weasley." He followed the other two Slytherins out, laughing cruelly.

Lucy waited for them to disappear down the corridor before shutting the compartment door firmly and turning back to the others. "You don't think he's telling the truth, do you?" she asked.

"How could he possibly know that?" Hermione said. "Where would Harry and Ron find a flying car in the first place, anyway?"

Lucy and Ginny looked guiltily at each other.

"Well, Dad's car can fly," Ginny replied softly. "We took it to the station this morning."

There was silence once more. Lucy and Ginny returned to their seats, and the four took to looking out the window at the steadily darkening sky.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Not long after the confrontation with Malfoy, Neville left the compartment, deciding to meet up with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, the other second-year Gryffindor boys. The girls bid him good-bye. The rest of the trip was spent by Lucy and Hermione telling Ginny anything and everything about Hogwarts and its students.

It wasn't too much longer before it was time for them to change into their robes. As the girls pulled their robes around their shoulders, the announcement that they would be arriving soon sounded overhead. Ginny was grinning from ear to ear, and even Lucy almost forgot about Harry and Ron.

After the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, the girls piled out onto the platform.

"Firs'-years!" a familiar booming voice called over the heads of the students exiting the train. "Firs'-years, over here! This way, please!" Hagrid came into view as the girls moved along the platform.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Lucy called up at him.

"Hello, Lucy, Hermione," he said back. He spotted Ginny behind them and added, "Another Weasley, eh? Firs'-year, I presume?"

Ginny nodded timidly.

"This is Ginny," Lucy introduced for her. "She's Ron's sister." She turned to Ginny and added, "We'll be waiting at Gryffindor table for you! Good luck!"

Hermione bid her farewell, too, and the second-years parted ways with their first-year friend.

"Firs'-years!" Lucy and Hermione heard Hagrid bellow as they continued down the platform with the rest of the school.

Up ahead were a group of horseless carriages. Students were getting into them in groups, and the carriages wheeled away in the direction of Hogwarts. Lucy and Hermione lined up with the rest of the students and got into a carriage with two older Ravenclaw students.

The carriage carried them up a long, winding path. It was dark, so there wasn't much visible that gave away where they were. It was only a few minutes until they were being deposited at the front door of the school.

Lucy grinned up at the castle, finally feeling at home. She and Hermione went through the doors into the entrance hall, and from there they went into the Great Hall.

"Lucy!" George called out from the Gryffindor table.

Lucy hurried to join him, with Hermione right behind her.

"Where are Ron and Harry?" George asked as the girls took their seats.

"We're not sure," Lucy replied, shrugging and looking around the Great Hall. "Hermione and Neville both looked for them on the train but never saw any trace of them.…"

She trailed off as she spotted someone across the room sitting at the Slytherin table. As though he sensed her looking at him, the boy looked up and met her eyes. It was Jeremy Whitlock, whom she had befriended the year before.

Lucy broke into a wide grin. She was surprised at how much she had been looking forward to seeing him. After making a mental note to catch up to him later, she waved to him. Jeremy snapped off a lazy salute back at her. Then Lucy tuned back into the conversation happening next to her.

"Well, Malfoy told us that Harry and Ron had missed the train," Hermione was explaining to the twins, "and so they had stolen a flying car to get here."

" _What_?" George exclaimed.

"There is no way they took Dad's car," Fred said. "Absolutely no way."

A few minutes later, Lucy's friend and fellow second-year Gryffindor Sally-Anne Perks paused on her way down the table. "Hi, Lucy!" she said. "Hi, Hermione! How were your summers?"

"Good," Lucy and Hermione said at the same time.

"Listen, I don't know if you've heard, but it was all over the train," Sally-Anne began. "My sister Becky told me that Andy Cleveley and Opal McLaggen were telling everyone that Harry and Ron stole a flying car to get to school. Apparently, it was reported in a special evening copy of the _Daily Prophet_."

"It was in the _paper_?" Lucy exclaimed, looking worried.

"Yeah, and now there's a rumor going around that Harry and Ron are going to be expelled because of it," Sally-Anne said. "We heard Toby Bletchley and Ryan Fletcher flaunting that bit of news as we were walking through the entrance hall."

"Who're Toby Bletchley and Ryan Fletcher?" Hermione asked blankly.

"A couple of seventh-year Slytherins," George answered with a scowl.

"They said that they'd heard it from Snape himself," Sally-Anne added. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you had heard the news."

"Thanks, Sally-Anne," Lucy said, and Sally-Anne departed to join her other friends. Then Lucy sighed and muttered, "Rumors fly around this school faster than Harry on his Nimbus Two Thousand."

"You don't think they've really been expelled, do you?" Hermione asked fearfully.

There was a hush in the hall. Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had stepped up in front of the school.

"Please take your seats, everyone," he called. "The sorting will begin shortly." He turned and went to his chair at the head table.

Not a minute later, the school quieted, and Professor McGonagall—Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor house—was entering the Great Hall with the new students following her. Lucy watched as the first-years marched down the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, right down the center of the hall. They gathered in front of the head table, and Professor McGonagall produced the Sorting Hat, placing it on a stool.

"Look! There's Ginny!" Lucy whispered to Hermione, pointing at the girl with the flaming red hair as the hat began to sing. Lucy noticed that it was a different song than the one it had sung the year before.

When the hat had finished its song, the school applauded. Then Professor McGonagall pulled out a scroll with a list of all the new students' names, gave brief instructions to the first-years, and began to call students forward.

Soon into the sorting, a small boy with brown hair was placed in Gryffindor. He hurried over to the table amidst the Gryffindors' applause and slid onto the bench next to Lucy. He looked up at her shyly. "Is it okay if I sit here?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course it is," Lucy said warmly, smiling at him. "What's your name again?"

"Colin," the boy replied. "Colin Creevey."

"Welcome to Gryffindor," Lucy said. "I'm Lucy Jones, second-year. This is Hermione Granger, also a second-year. The twins across the way there are the Weasleys, Fred and George."

The other three greeted the boy, as well.

"Your accent is funny," Colin pointed out to Lucy, blushing slightly as he realized how forward he'd been.

"Don't worry about it," Lucy told him. "I'm the resident American here at Hogwarts."

"How did you get to come to Hogwarts if you're from America?" Colin asked.

"My birth parents are from England," Lucy explained. "I was born here, but I was adopted by an American family when I was about a year old."

"Adopted?" Colin repeated, clearly interested. "Does that mean your real parents—?"

"They died when You-Know-Who was still at large," Lucy said. "In fact, I was taken away from them for safety."

"Wow," Colin breathed. Then he shook his head and said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bother you about your personal business."

"It's okay, Colin," Lucy replied. "No worries at all. I figure it's better to be up front about who I am and where I came from." She gave him a smile for extra reassurance, and the two of them turned their attention back to the sorting.

It was a while later when Professor McGonagall finally called out, "Weasley, Ginevra!"

Of course, the hat was hardly on Ginny's head when it was proclaiming her a Gryffindor. Lucy cheered with Fred, George, and Hermione as Ginny sauntered over and fell into the seat next to her brothers.

"Congrats, Ginny!" Lucy said. "See, I knew you'd be in Gryffindor!"

Ginny rolled her eyes but smiled.

After the last first-year was sorted, Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat away through one of the side doors of the hall. When she had returned and taken her seat at the high table, Dumbledore stood once again.

"Welcome, welcome, to yet another year at Hogwarts!" he announced, spreading his arms wide. "I daresay it is time to tuck into our fabulous feast!" He beamed around at the tables as the food began to magically appear on them.

Lucy and the rest of the Gryffindors dove into the food presented to them and began to eat their fill.

"Wow!" Colin breathed from next to Lucy. He hadn't touched any food yet; instead he was simply looking in awe at the serving dishes.

Lucy nudged him with her elbow. "Help yourself, Colin!" she exclaimed.

"I've never seen anything like this," Colin replied. "My parents aren't magic at all."

"You're a Muggleborn?" Lucy asked. She gestured to Hermione and said, "Hermione here is, too!"

"Don't worry, Colin. You'll get used to magic in no time," Hermione added kindly.

Colin then began to help himself to the wonderful feast in front of him.

A few minutes later, Hermione nudged Lucy and pointed up to the staff table. Lucy looked to see Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore rising from their chairs and exiting the hall through one of the side doors.

"What's that all about?" Hermione whispered.

"No idea," Lucy murmured in response.

About fifteen minutes later, the two professors returned to their chairs. Lucy and Hermione exchanged curious glances, wondering where they had gone.

 **~LJ:SD~**

At the end of the feast, as the desserts were beginning to fade, Dumbledore stood again.

"Now that we're all full up, I have a few announcements to make before you all trot off to bed," he began. "First, as always, the dark forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to those below the third year or without proper permission. Also, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you once again that magic is forbidden to be used in the corridors between classes. There is a list on his office door of all banned items, as well, in case you were wondering what else is forbidden.

"We also have one new member of staff joining us this year," Dumbledore continued. "I'm pleased to welcome Professor Lockhart, who will be taking over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Professor Lockhart stood and waved to the students. There was scattered applause for him, and the most enthusiastic students seemed to be female.

"Now, everyone, off to bed! I daresay you all need to get rested up for your first day of classes tomorrow," Dumbledore finished, smiling upon the school.

The hall was immediately filled with talking as the students began to leave.

"First-years!" a female voice called out. "First-years, please follow me!"

Lucy saw a fifth-year girl whose name was Emily Saunders walking down the table. She had a badge pinned to her robes that meant she was a prefect.

"Who is that?" Colin asked Lucy.

"Oh, that's one of the new prefects, Emily," Lucy replied. "She's going to show you all how to get to our common room. Go on; she won't bite." Lucy winked.

Colin giggled. Then he got up along with Ginny, and the two first-years hurried off to meet up with Emily.

Not a moment later, Maureen Cleveley—one of the seventh-year prefects—hurried down the table, informing the other Gryffindors what the new password to enter their common room was.

"The password is _wattlebird_ ," Lucy and Hermione heard her say as she passed them.

"What the hell is a wattlebird?" a nearby sixth-year asked with a smirk. It was Maureen's brother, Andy.

"I'm not in charge of the passwords," Maureen replied in a bored voice. "Nice try, Andy." She moved on as Andy and his group of friends laughed.

Lucy turned to look at Hermione and said, "I guess the new password is _wattlebird_."

Hermione laughed, but a moment later her smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Well, it's obvious that Harry and Ron aren't here," Hermione said in a worried voice. "We can probably assume they weren't on the train, either. Where could they be?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I hope they aren't in any trouble. C'mon—let's get going to the common room."

The girls slowly stood from the table. The hall was nearly half-empty already, with some students still lingering to have conversations with friends from other houses.

"Lucy!" a voice called out.

Lucy turned around and saw Jeremy hurrying up to herself and Hermione. "Hi, Jeremy!" she exclaimed, warmth filling her. She was again startled by how happy she was to see her Slytherin friend. "How was your summer?"

"Ah, the usual," Jeremy replied. "We went on holiday to France. My mum's family is from there."

"That sounds lovely," Hermione supplied, smiling at the boy. "I've always wanted to visit France."

Lucy shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose that would be fun," she agreed.

"So, how were your summers?" Jeremy asked them.

"I just spent time with my parents," Hermione replied. "It was quite nice catching up with them after spending all those months away."

"I did the same until my birthday," Lucy said. "Then I stayed with the Weasleys in August."

"Oh, yeah—I always forget that because you're American, your parents actually live _in_ America," Jeremy said, chuckling. "Well, I'm glad you guys had a good holiday. I suppose we better be getting to our dormitories, though?"

Lucy looked around the hall, which was now mostly empty. "Yeah, I suppose we should," she sighed. "Oh, well. I guess we'll see you in Potions?"

Jeremy smiled. "Hopefully, assuming we're with you Gryffindors again," he replied. "Good night!"

The girls bid him good night, as well, and he left for the Slytherin common room.

Hermione took the lead back to Gryffindor Tower. The girls were silent as they walked through the corridors. As they came up to the hallway with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they heard her ask for the password from whoever was standing in front of it.

"Er—" the person said.

Lucy's eyebrows shot up; she recognized that voice.

" _There_ you are!" Hermione exclaimed as the girls ran forward to see Ron and Harry, standing safe and sound in front of the portrait hole. "Where have you _been_?" Hermione added.

"There's been a rumor going around that you've been expelled because you stole a flying car when you missed the train," Lucy said. "Did you two _really_ take Mr. Weasley's car to get here? What's wrong with the train?"

"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry replied, avoiding Lucy's other questions.

"You're not telling us that you _did_ fly here?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Skip the lecture," Ron said, sounding annoyed, "and tell us the new password."

Lucy frowned at him.

"It's _wattlebird_ ," Hermione told him, "but that's not the point—"

She was cut off by a sudden roar of cheers and clapping. The Fat Lady's portrait had swung open to reveal the rest of Gryffindor house, all of whom were calling Harry's and Ron's names.

The boys were heaved inside, leaving Lucy to glare after them in disapproval and Hermione to shake her head in slight disbelief, her hands on her hips. The girls climbed in after the boys, who were now being passed around the common room.

"Brilliant!" the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan was shouting. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow! People will be talking about that one for _years_!"

Fred and George fought their way to the front. "Why couldn't we've come in the car?" they both demanded.

Lucy stood off to the side, her arms folded across her chest. Hermione had resumed her position next to Lucy with her hands on her hips. Then Harry nudged Ron.

"Got to get upstairs," Ron announced after a moment. "Bit tired."

Lucy snorted, her eyebrows rising suspiciously.

"Night!" Harry threw over his shoulder at Lucy and Hermione, and he followed Ron through the crowd and up the boys' staircase.

The crowd quickly scattered after the boys had taken their leave. Hermione muttered to Lucy that she was going upstairs and disappeared, too. Lucy, on the other hand, went over to Fred and George.

"I can't believe they took Dad's car to school!" Fred said.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they hadn't planned on it," she said. "No offense to either of them, but I don't think they'd have the guts to do that on purpose."

"What about for attention?" George pointed out, to which Lucy laughed a little.

"I don't think Harry wants any more attention than he already gets," she said. "I'm sure they had some kind of reason for taking the car."

Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Lucy finished. "Good night, boys."

"Good night, Lu," Fred and George echoed.

Lucy slowly went up to her dormitory. Evie was there, already curled up on Lucy's bed. Lucy changed out of her robes and into her pajamas. Evie lifted her head when Lucy crawled into bed. After a sleepy _good night_ from Hermione, Lucy snuggled under the covers and drifted off, thinking only of how happy she was to be back.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: This chapter was definitely an interesting one to write, because (obviously) Lucy doesn't go with the boys in the car. So I got to fill it in with all kinds of my own stuff! I thought this was the perfect place to throw in some background characters, just to show that there are more people at Hogwarts than Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys. Ha.**_


	5. 5: Second Year Begins

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Second Year Begins**

The next morning, Lucy and Hermione beat the boys down to the Great Hall. After a look up and down Gryffindor table for Ginny, they sat down with Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

"Hello, boys," Lucy greeted. "How were your summers?"

"All right," Seamus and Dean both replied.

The girls started to prepare their breakfasts. Before she began eating, Hermione pulled out a copy of _Voyages with Vampires_ and leaned it upright against a milk carton.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Seamus asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

Hermione glared at him over her book. "I'm reading," she answered. "Haven't you ever tried it?"

Dean and Neville sniggered, and Seamus smirked. Lucy rolled her eyes at her friends' antics and piled some scrambled eggs onto her plate.

Harry and Ron showed up a few minutes later, Ron still yawning. They bid the others good morning.

"Morning," Hermione said, her tone clearly showing her disapproval for the boys' actions the night before.

"Good morning!" Neville said as he shuffled over to make more room for them. "Mail's due any minute—I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when owls started to swoop into the Great Hall. One of them dropped a package square on Neville's head.

Suddenly, something collided with the milk jug Hermione was using to hold her book up. Milk sprayed into the air, along with some feathers, and Ron exclaimed, " _Errol_!" He reached down and pulled the owl up by its feet. As he was setting the bird down, Lucy looked at its beak.

"Uh, Ron…?" she said, gesturing at the red envelope.

Ron looked at it, and his expression quickly turned to one of horror. "Oh, no," he moaned.

"It's all right," Hermione assured him, poking the bird softly. "He's still alive."

"It's not that," Ron said, shaking his head. "It's _that_."

Hermione and Harry looked blankly at the envelope sitting on the table.

"What's the matter?" Harry finally asked.

"She's—She's sent me a Howler," Ron replied, and Lucy winced.

"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville said, his voice shaking slightly. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it.… It was horrible."

"What's a Howler?" Harry demanded, looking quite puzzled.

However, the envelope had started to smoke at the corners, and Lucy, Ron, and Neville could do nothing but stare transfixed at it.

"Open it," Lucy urged after a moment. "It'll be over in a few minutes.…"

Ron nodded and picked up the envelope. He carefully slit the top open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears, and a second later, the loud scream of Mrs. Weasley erupted from the envelope.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT 'TIL I GET HOLD OF YOU! I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE!"

Everyone turned to see where the noise was coming from. It was reverberating around the hall, shaking the utensils on the tables. Ron slunk down low in his seat.

"NOW YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S _ENTIRELY_ YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT _ANOTHER_ _TOE_ OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU _STRAIGHT_ _BACK_ _HOME_."

The envelope burst into a small flame and crumbled to ashes. There was a ringing silence, and nobody uttered a sound.

Finally, a few people snickered, which turned into full out laughs, and soon everyone was going back to their breakfasts.

Hermione closed her book and set it on the table. "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron," she started, "but you—"

" _Don't_ tell me I deserved it," Ron growled.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Well, you kind of did," she told him anyway.

Ron huffed and shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth.

"Schedules!" Professor McGonagall announced as she walked down the table. She had just finished handing all the first-years their new schedules, and now she was giving out the second-year ones. Lucy took hers with a quick, "Thank you!"

"Double Herbology," Ron moaned, examining his schedule.

"Come on. Let's get going," Lucy said, standing up from the table.

Ron and Harry both groaned in protest, but Hermione hopped up, as well.

"Either come with us, or we're leaving without you," Lucy insisted. She slung her bag over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips.

The boys slowly got up, stuffing some last bits of toast in their mouths.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy and Hermione led the way out of the castle. They trooped across the grounds, chatting aimlessly. As they came upon the greenhouses, they saw the rest of the class standing outside of greenhouse one, which was the greenhouse they'd worked inside during their first year. Professor Sprout hadn't shown up yet. Lucy and Hermione exchanged greetings with some of the Hufflepuff girls.

"Look, here comes Professor Sprout," said Parvati Patil, a second-year Gryffindor. She gasped immediately and added in a breathless voice, "Oh, and Professor Lockhart!"

Hermione and some of the Hufflepuff girls whipped around, quickly smoothing their hair and uniforms. Sure enough, Lockhart was following Professor Sprout across the lawn. Next to Lucy, Ron let out a low groan. Harry awkwardly itched the back of his neck.

"Oh, hello there!" Lockhart called out as he neared the group of students. Professor Sprout continued ahead of him, a box of bandages in her arms, as Lockhart explained, "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! Now, I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several exotic plants on my travels.…"

Ron scoffed quietly, and Lucy had to repress a snort.

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout said, ignoring Lockhart.

Lucy glanced around at her classmates, most of whom looked interested that they would be working in a different greenhouse than they had before.

Professor Sprout walked up to the doors of the greenhouse, pulled a large key from her belt, and unlocked the door. The students began to file inside. Lucy was following Hermione when she heard something that made her pause.

"Harry! I've been wanting a word," Lockhart said, and Lucy turned to see him beaming at Harry. "You don't mind if he's a couple minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" Lockhart asked.

The rest of the students were inside the greenhouse, and Professor Sprout stood in the doorway, frowning at the newest professor.

After a pause, Lockhart said, "That's the ticket!" Then he promptly shut the door in Professor Sprout's face.

Muttering darkly, Professor Sprout turned and ushered the few remaining students inside, Lucy included. "Come, come—everyone, take a spot at the tables," she said in an annoyed tone.

The second-years hustled to the tables, not wanting to cross the irritated professor. She continued to bustle about, still murmuring to herself. Lucy ended up across the table from Hermione and next to Sally-Anne, who gave Lucy a quiet greeting.

"So, do you still think he's so great?" Ron asked, turning to Hermione. "The way he whisked Harry away—"

"It's because he's famous," Lucy added, frowning. "He thinks he can get away with it and that it's okay for him to disrespect the other teachers, simply because he's written a few books—"

Professor Sprout began calling for attention, standing at the head of the tables. In front of her were many pairs of earmuffs. She opened her mouth to speak but paused, nodding towards something at the back of the greenhouse. Lucy turned her head to see Harry edge into a spot between Ron and Hermione.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today," Professor Sprout started when she had the class's full attention. "Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" Hermione instantly raised her hand, and Professor Sprout prompted, "Miss Granger."

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," Hermione recited. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent," Professor Sprout said. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

Lucy and a few other Gryffindors smiled their approval in Hermione's direction.

"The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes," Professor Sprout went on. "It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why? Miss Granger?"

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," Hermione answered.

Lucy's eyebrows lifted; _these things could kill them just by screaming?_

"Precisely. Take another ten points," Professor Sprout said. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young." She motioned to the trays on the tables in front of them, where rows of plants were sitting.

Lucy gaped, along with some of the other students who had leaned forward to look more closely. None of them—except probably Hermione—had known that the Mandrakes were sitting right in front of them.

Then Professor Sprout waved her wand and levitated the earmuffs into the air. They floated down the two rows of second-years. "Everyone, take a pair of earmuffs," Professor Sprout instructed.

All the students snatched the earmuffs out of the air, with most of them trying to avoid getting a pink pair.

"When I tell you to put them on," Professor Sprout continued, "make sure your ears are _completely_ covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs up. Right—earmuffs _on_."

Lucy quickly pulled the earmuffs over her head and tightened them against her ears. She couldn't hear anything even if she wanted to.

Meanwhile, Professor Sprout had put her own earmuffs on and stepped in front of one of the potted plants. She shook the sleeves of her robes up to her elbows, and then she grasped the leaves poking out of the soil and tugged hard.

At the end of the leaves was what looked like an ugly bald baby, who shook its fists and was clearly screaming at the top of its lungs. Lucy quickly covered her earmuffs with her hands in surprise, although no noise could get through them.

Professor Sprout took a larger pot out from under her demonstration table and dropped the Mandrake inside of it, quickly covering it with more soil. Then she gave the students all a thumbs up before removing her own earmuffs. Lucy hesitantly removed her earmuffs only after the professor had taken off her own.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," Professor Sprout informed the students. "However, they _will_ knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.

"I will split you up into four, and there will be one group to each tray," she continued. "There is a large supply of pots here—" She motioned to the front of the greenhouse. "—compost in the sacks over there—" She pointed over to one side. "—and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula. It's teething." With that, she slapped at a vine that had been crawling over her shoulder, and it receded quickly.

The professor began to walk along the tables, grouping the students off. Lucy was partnered with Sally-Anne, Neville, and Dean, while Harry, Hermione, and Ron were joined by Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff boy.

"Start by collecting some large pots from the front and filing them with compost," Professor Sprout announced over the heads of the students. "When we're all ready, I'll give the signal to put your earmuffs on!"

There were murmurs of conversation as the groups of students prepared to begin the repotting of the Mandrakes.

Lucy was fairly happy with her group. Sally-Anne always got good marks, Dean was a hard and detailed worker, and Neville was surprising good at Herbology as compared to most of their other subjects. They quickly had four large pots in front of them and were filling them with compost.

"Okay, so we can all take a turn actually pulling the Mandrake out of the pot," Lucy said. "Professor Sprout made it look pretty simple, but I'm sure she's done this many times before."

"One person pulls, another helps put the Mandrake into the new pot, and the other two cover it up," Dean suggested.

The other three nodded in agreement.

"All right, please put your earmuffs on," Professor Sprout announced, pulling her own earmuffs over her ears.

Lucy and her fellow group members hurriedly put theirs on, as well. Professor Sprout took a look around the room, making sure that everyone had earmuffs on, and then waved her wand. Above their heads, large letters appeared, spelling out _BEGIN_.

For the rest of the class, the students were putting the Mandrakes into new pots. As Lucy predicted, Professor Sprout had made the procedure look quite easy. However, the second-years struggled much more than she had. For as small as the Mandrakes were, they could put up quite the fight.

Finally, Professor Sprout was signaling everyone to finish the Mandrake they were on, and a few minutes later, the second-years could remove their earmuffs. Lucy's ears were filled with the sounds of her classmates panting and moaning.

"That was quite enjoyable," Neville said as they cleaned up their station.

Lucy looked over at him and grinned. "I'm glad that at least one of us had fun," she chuckled.

Neville smiled back.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The loud gong sounded across the grounds, signaling the end of the class hour. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs trooped up the front lawn and into the castle. The Hufflepuffs broke away at the entrance hall, and the Gryffindors hurried up to their tower to wash up.

"Transfiguration next," Lucy said to Hermione as they washed their arms in the girls' bathroom. "I wonder what McGonagall will have us doing today."

They met up with the other second-years in the common room, and they walked to Transfiguration as a group.

Once in the classroom, Lucy seated herself at a desk next to Hermione. Harry and Ron sat at the desk behind them.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom a few minutes later. "Good morning, Gryffindors," she said in her normal brisk tone. "I hope you have remembered the basics of Transfiguration from last term. Today we will simply be practicing turning a beetle into a button."

She levitated the beetles from a box on her desk to each student. Lucy shuddered; she hated insects.

Once everyone had a beetle, Professor McGonagall said, "You may begin. I want you to Transfigure as many beetles into buttons as you are able within the next hour."

The room was filled with the sound of incantations being spoken and the swishing of wands. It took Lucy a little while to get the spell correct and then a while longer to successfully Transfigure the beetle into a button. Hermione, of course, began producing buttons immediately.

Halfway through class, Lucy turned to see how Harry and Ron were doing. Harry was mostly staring at his beetle, which was scuttling along on his desk. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be dealing with a malfunctioning wand.

"Ron, what have you done to your wand?" Lucy asked, noticing the large amount of Spellotape near the end of his wand, and Ron scowled.

"It snapped when we crashed in the car," Harry said in a hushed tone.

Ron waved his wand to Transfigure his beetle, and it let off a large amount of dark smoke that smelled something awful. Most of the class turned to see what was causing it, and Professor McGonagall waved her wand to clear it away.

Unfortunately, while engulfed in the smoke, Ron had squished his beetle with his elbow. Grumbling darkly, he raised his hand to get a new one.

"You are supposed to be turning your beetle into a button, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall scolded. Then she turned to the class and added, "If you are having problems, please consult your books."

Lucy turned around to focus on her own beetle.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The lunch bell rang soon after. Lucy stood and stretched, pocketing the two good buttons she had produced during the class. She and Hermione went to follow the others out of the room, pausing to see why Harry and Ron hadn't packed up their things yet.

"Go on ahead of us," Harry said, waving them off.

Ron looked livid as he smacked his wand on the desktop.

Lucy shrugged. "If you say so," she replied. She linked arms with Hermione, and the two girls exited the room. They joined the rest of the school going to lunch.

When they reached the Great Hall, Lucy pulled Hermione over to sit next to Neville. "How did you do during Transfiguration?" Lucy asked him as she and Hermione sat down.

Neville shook his head. "I tried," he replied. "I just couldn't get the beetle to do what I wanted. That's okay, though, for now."

Hermione pulled her buttons out and showed Neville how she'd done. Harry and Ron caught up with them at that moment, and Hermione turned around to show them, too. Ron scowled.

"What've we got this afternoon?" Harry cut in before Ron could say anything mean, and the boys sat across from the girls at the table.

Hermione pulled her schedule out of her bag and replied promptly, "Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Ron snatched the parchment out of her hands. " _Why_ have you outlined all of Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?" he demanded.

Lucy pulled the schedule out of Ron's grasp and looked to see if it was true. "Yeah, why are there hearts all over his lesson times?" she repeated. "He doesn't seem very nice, especially after the way he treated Professor Sprout this morning."

Hermione grabbed her schedule back, her face burning bright red. Ron rolled his eyes.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After lunch, they all went outside for some fresh air. Hermione pulled out her copy of _Voyages with Vampires_ , sat down on some steps, and began reading. Lucy sat down a few stairs below Hermione, and the boys stood at the bottom, talking about Quidditch.

They were only there for a few minutes when Colin Creevey came up to them, clutching a camera.

"Hi, Colin," Lucy greeted, smiling at the first-year.

He smiled back. Then his eyes darted to look at Harry, and his cheeks went bright red. "All right, Harry? I'm—I'm Colin Creevey," he said, taking a small step up to Harry. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think—would it be all right if—can I have a picture?" He lifted his camera a bit.

"A picture?" Harry asked, sounding quite puzzled.

"So I can prove that I've met you," Colin hurried on. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me about how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead. And a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll _move_."

Colin had to pause then to take a breath. "It's _amazing_ here, isn't it?" he continued. "I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic, 'til I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, and he couldn't believe it, either. So, I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him, and it'd be really good if I had one of you.… Maybe your friend could take it, and I could stand next to you? Then, maybe, you could you sign it?"

Lucy opened her mouth to try and calm Colin down when another voice nearby cut in.

" _Signed photos_?" Malfoy sauntered over with his usual guard of Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. "You're giving out _signed photos_ , Potter?"

"Stuff it, Malfoy," Lucy growled, getting up to stand next to Harry.

Malfoy smirked. "Everyone, line up!" he called out to the growing crowd in the courtyard. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed next to their leader.

"No, I'm not," Harry snapped back. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You're just jealous," Colin added bravely, although he seemed to shrink into Lucy and Harry.

" _Jealous_?" Malfoy asked gleefully, basking in the crowd that had gathered around them. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," Ron spat.

Crabbe glared at him, cracking his knuckles threateningly.

"Be careful, Weasley," Malfoy taunted. "You don't want to start any trouble, or your mummy'll have to come and take you away from school." He straightened up and put on a falsetto, saying, " _If you put another toe out of line_..." A group of Slytherin students laughed aloud at his imitation, and Malfoy continued, "Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter. It'd be worth more than his family's whole house!"

Ron had his wand out in an instant, and Lucy grabbed his arm immediately.

"Look out!" Hermione hissed from behind them.

Everyone looked around to see Lockhart coming towards them.

"What's all this? What's all this?" he was saying as he strode forward. "Who's giving out signed photos?" He spotted Harry, broke out into a wide grin, and flung his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!" Lockhart pulled Harry away from Lucy and Ron. "Come on then, Mr. Creevey," Lockhart addressed Colin. "A double portrait—can't do better than that—and we'll _both_ sign it for you."

Lucy scoffed softly as Colin nervously yet excitedly snapped the picture.

The bell rang from the castle, and Lockhart started shouting, "Off you go! Move along there!" Keeping Harry under his arm, he swept off to the castle.

"That Lockhart sure is something, isn't he?" Colin said to Lucy as she picked up her book bag.

"Yes, he sure is something," Lucy muttered darkly, "but I'm not sure if he's something good."

She said good-bye to the first-year and followed Hermione and Ron back into the castle. Hermione hurried ahead of them, eager to get to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, while Lucy and Ron trailed behind her.

"What a foul git," Ron murmured to Lucy.

"Malfoy or Lockhart?" Lucy asked, smirking.

"Both," Ron replied. "Mostly Malfoy, though. Someday he's going to get what he deserves."

"A swift kick in the pants," Lucy added with a giggle. "Don't worry, Ron; he'll get what's coming to him."

 **~LJ:SD~**

They reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Hermione hurried in. Lucy and Ron followed. They spotted Harry in the back of the room and went to join him. Lucy and Ron sat on one side of him, and Hermione on the other.

"You could've fried an egg on your face," Ron commented to Harry as they sat. "You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club."

"Shut up," Harry grumbled.

"Be nice, Ron," Lucy said. "Colin isn't that bad." Ron scoffed, and Lucy glared at him. "He isn't!" she insisted. "He's just a first-year. He's very eager and excited to be here, just like we were last year."

The rest of the class was now seated, and Lockhart stood at the front of the room, clearing his throat for attention. Everyone quieted, and Lockhart walked forward, scooping up one of Neville's books.

"Me," Lockhart started, motioning to the picture of himself on the cover. "Gilderoy Lockhart: Order of Merlin, Third Class; Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League; and five-time winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most-Charming-Smile Award—but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by _smiling_ at her!"

He paused, and a few students giggled half-heartedly. Lucy glanced over and saw Hermione hanging onto the man's every word, her mouth slightly agape.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books—well done," Lockhart continued.

Lucy had to hold back a snort. Of course they had bought the complete set of his books; all of them had been on their booklist!

"I thought we'd start today with a little quiz," Lockhart went on. Most of the class let out groans at this statement, and Lockhart assured them, "Nothing to worry about. Just to check how well you've read them and how much you've taken in.…" He handed out the papers, smiling around at all of them and oblivious to most of their looks of despair.

"Have you read any of the books?" Ron asked Lucy in a hushed voice, looking concerned.

Lucy shook her head.

"You have thirty minutes!" Lockhart called, silencing the whispers that had broken out amongst the students. "Start— _now_!"

Lucy leafed through the pieces of parchment, reading the quiz. All the questions were about Lockhart. Lucy was confused as to how helpful his books would be if all the questions on the quiz were about him and not about actual defense.

When their time was up, Lockhart collected their papers. He started looking through them, his brow furrowed. "Tut, tut," he said. "Hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in _Year with the Yeti_. A few of you need to read _Wandering with Werewolves_ more carefully, too—I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples—though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey!"

Lucy noticed at the front of the room that Seamus and Dean were trying very hard to not laugh out loud. She glanced over at her friends. Harry and Ron were both looking at Lockhart incredulously, while Hermione was listening with rapt attention.

"But Miss Hermione Granger," Lockhart continued, and Hermione let out an audible gasp, "knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions—good girl! In fact," he added, quickly reading through the rest of her quiz, "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

The rest of the class looked to Hermione as she raised her hand.

"Excellent!" Lockhart congratulated. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor!"

Lucy raised her eyebrows; as ridiculous as she thought it was that he had set them a quiz that was all about him, she was glad that Hermione had gotten them some house points out of it.

Lockhart cleared his throat and continued, "So—to business.…" He bent down behind his desk and produced a cage covered with a sheet. He set it on top of the desk. "Now—be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to Wizardkind! You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

The whole class seemed partly confused and partly on-edge; _what in the world did Lockhart have in that cage?_

"I must ask you not to scream," he cautioned all of them. "It might provoke them." With that, he removed the sheet with a flourish.

Inside the cage was a swarm of bright blue pixies. As soon as the cover had been removed, they began to make a racket and tried to break free.

"Yes. _Freshly caught Cornish pixies_ ," Lockhart introduced in a loud voice.

Seamus let out a laugh at this.

"Yes?" Lockhart asked, turning to him.

"Well, they're not…" Seamus started, choking on his own laughter, "they're not very… _dangerous_ , are they?"

"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart replied. "Devilishly tricky little blighters they can be. Right, then! Let's see what you make of them!" He tapped the lock with his wand; the door of the cage burst open, and the pixies zoomed out into the room.

It was as though Lockhart had opened a can of worms. There were shouts of surprise as the students dove underneath the tables. Neville was the only one who didn't make it under a desk in time. Two pixies grabbed him by the ears and lifted him into the air, and they hung him on the chandelier by his robes.

Meanwhile, a few pixies immediately flew out the windows, breaking the glass as they went. The rest set to work on destroying as many things as they could. They ripped papers to pieces, pulled the pages out of books, knocked pictures and other things from the walls, and threw ink bottles all around the room. They also threw things out of the now-broken windows.

"Come on, now—round them up! Round them up! They're only pixies!" Lockhart shouted above the mayhem.

" _Only pixies_!?" Lucy yelled. "Weren't you just telling Seamus that they can be quite dangerous? _We're only second-year students_!"

Lockhart pulled out his wand and brandished it in the air. " _Peskipiski Pesternomi_!" he recited, looking confident.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. A pixie flew at Lockhart's face and pulled the wand out of his hand. Then it flew to the window and tossed it out. Lockhart blinked and then dove under his desk. Seconds later, Neville came crashing down from where he'd been hanging on the chandelier.

The bell rang, barely audible above all the noise. The rest of the class stampeded for the door. Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were last in line, but they were stopped by Lockhart.

"Well, I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage," he called out to them. He hurried past them, following the rest of the class into the corridor, and snapped the door shut behind him.

Lucy, Harry, and Ron stared after him in disbelief.

"Can you _believe_ him?" Ron asked furiously, swatting a pixie away from his ear.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," Hermione replied. She had her wand out, and she was freezing the pixies and tossing them back into their cage. Many of them had already escaped out of the window.

" _Hands-on_?" Harry repeated. "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing!"

"Rubbish," Hermione scoffed. "You've read his books—"

"Hermione, apart from you, none of us have read his books," Lucy interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you really should read them sometime," Hermione insisted. "Look at all those amazing things he's done!"

"He _says_ he's done," Ron muttered darkly.

Hermione scowled and ignored Ron as they finished rounding up the pixies.

Lucy couldn't help but wonder if Ron was on to something. Lockhart had claimed to have done all these things, so why couldn't he have taken control of the pixies?

 **~LJ:SD~**


	6. 6: Old & New Friends

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Old and New Friends**

The first week drew to a close, and the students were more than excited for their first weekend. Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had plans to visit Hagrid on Saturday morning. Other than that, Lucy was determined to have a very relaxing couple of days.

Saturday dawned bright and warm, as though summer still had a hold on the castle. Lucy and Hermione dressed and went down to the common room, where many Gryffindors were hanging about. It was a very happy atmosphere, something Lucy was going to miss once heavy schoolwork set in.

There was no sign of Harry nor Ron, so the girls passed through the common room and out the portrait hole. They headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

As they descended the marble staircase, a voice called out to them, halting them in their tracks. "Lucy! Hermione!"

The girls turned to see Jeremy coming towards them from the dungeons. "Morning, Jeremy," Lucy greeted, smiling warmly at him. "Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

"I'd be delighted," Jeremy replied, also grinning. "That is, of course, if Hermione is okay with it, too." Both he and Lucy turned to the girl in question.

"Of course I'm okay with it," Hermione replied.

Lucy beamed; she was proud of her friend for overcoming her prejudice against Slytherin, even if it was for only one student.

"I'm sure you'll want to eat at the Gryffindor table, though. Am I correct?" Jeremy asked as they filed into the Great Hall.

"Yes, please," Hermione answered immediately.

Jeremy chuckled and followed the girls down the hall. Not many students had come down for breakfast yet, so they got a nice open space at the table.

"How was your first week?" Jeremy asked as they began piling their plates with delicious breakfast foods.

"Long," Lucy replied. "Although I think Hermione enjoyed Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Shut up!" Hermione hissed, blushing furiously.

Jeremy gave her a calculating look. "I suppose you quite fancy Lockhart, too?" he asked her. "Most of the girls in the Slytherin common room won't shut up talking about him." His mouth quirked up into a half-grin, and he shot a look at Lucy, asking, "Don't you think he's just absolutely dreamy?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Now, I'll admit that he _is_ good-looking," she said. "Very nice on the eyes. I'm just not so sure that he understands that he's here to teach us stuff." Hermione glowered at her, and Lucy reassured her friend, "I know we've only had one class so far! Maybe he'll get better as the term goes on."

"You may be on to something, though, Lucy," Jeremy said, frowning. "All he did during our class was read aloud from one of his books."

"Maybe he's taken one too many blows to the head," Lucy joked.

"Well, that would explain why it's so swollen," Jeremy shot back cheekily.

Hermione glared at both of them. "Whether you like him or not, he deserves some respect," she admonished. "Look at all the things he's done in his books and all the lives he's saved. He has a bit of a right to gloat."

Lucy leveled Hermione with a stare, her smile gone. "Look at what happened to Harry," she said. "How many lives did Harry save? You don't see him going around and gloating about how You-Know-Who nearly killed him—"

"Hey, let's just talk about something else," Jeremy cut in. "What are you doing later today?"

"Well, we're supposed to meet up with Harry and Ron," Hermione answered. "The four of us were going to visit Hagrid sometime before lunch."

"Sounds like a good morning," Jeremy said. "I was thinking of going out to the Quidditch pitch this afternoon with some of my friends to play a mock game or something. Would you be interested in joining?"

"I don't play Quidditch," Hermione mumbled nervously.

"Well, I'd be up for flying," Lucy said, grinning. "It does depend on who else you're inviting, of course. I don't think I'd be able to play fairly if someone like Malfoy showed up."

"Oh, but I was going to tell you," Jeremy started, sounding disappointed. "Malfoy is my new best friend! We hang out all the time!"

Then he snorted at his little charade, and Lucy laughed, as well. Hermione cracked a sly grin.

"Good morning." Ron had joined them, looking a bit sleepy. He held out a piece of parchment, and Hermione took it from him.

"What's that?" Lucy asked.

"It's from Harry," Hermione said, reading what was on the parchment. "Apparently he had Quidditch practice this morning."

She passed it to Lucy's outstretched hand. Lucy looked at the parchment to see Harry's handwriting, informing Ron that Oliver Wood—the sixth-year Gryffindor Quidditch Captain—had come calling early for him.

"It's a bit early in the season, isn't it?" Jeremy asked.

Lucy nodded and shrugged at the same time. "They do have an advantage," she said. "There were no openings on the team this year, so they didn't have to hold any tryouts. Besides, you should never underestimate Oliver's obsession with Quidditch."

"More like Oliver's obsession with winning the Quidditch Cup," Ron said. He leaned forward and piled some bacon and toast onto his plate.

"Maybe we should bring Harry some food at the Quidditch pitch when we're done," Hermione suggested.

"That's a good idea," Lucy agreed.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they had finished their breakfasts, Lucy said, "Come on; we should get going and find Harry."

Hermione nodded her agreement. She and Lucy scooped up some slices of toast and put them in a napkin to bring to Harry. All four of them stood up from the table.

"Well, have fun," Jeremy said. "I'll see you around lunchtime maybe? Think about what I said, about flying this afternoon." He paused then added, "And tell Harry and Ron here the plan."

Lucy smiled. "Will do, sir," she said. "See you later!"

Hermione and Ron said good-bye, as well, and Jeremy left the Gryffindor table.

"Got enough toast for Harry?" Ron asked.

"This should be plenty," Hermione replied. "Let's go."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The three Gryffindor second-years left the castle and made their way across the grounds. When they reached the Quidditch pitch, they trooped up the stairs into the stands. There was no Quidditch team in sight, but Colin Creevey was sitting on a bench nearby, looking eager.

"Hi, Colin," Lucy greeted as she led the other two to where he was sitting.

"Oh, hi, Lucy!" Colin said, grinning up at her. "I've been waiting for Harry and the others to come out of the locker room. They've been in there for quite a long time, though."

Lucy sat down next to Colin, and Hermione joined her. Ron hesitantly sat, as well, eyeing Colin skeptically.

"How was your first week at Hogwarts?" Lucy asked the first-year.

Colin's bright eyes widened in excitement. "Oh, it's been the best time ever!" he said. "Everything is so fascinating. I'm still partially waiting to wake up from a very good dream!"

Lucy chuckled. "Well, I can tell you right now that you're not dreaming," she said. "I'm glad that you've been having a good time so far."

Just then there was motion from the Gryffindor team locker room entrance. Oliver marched out onto the field, followed by his less than enthusiastic-looking team. Harry looked up, and Lucy, Hermione, and Ron waved their arms over their heads, so he would see them.

"Aren't you finished yet?" Ron called out to him.

"Haven't even started," Harry replied. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

Hermione beckoned him over, waving the toast in the air. Harry hopped onto his broom and flew up to them, quickly taking the toast from Hermione and putting it eagerly into his mouth.

"Thanks, 'Mione," he said with his mouth full.

The girls laughed and shooed him away to his team. Next to them, Colin jumped up and started running back and forth along the bench, holding his camera high. He was taking pictures nonstop, and the clicking echoed around the stadium.

"Colin, what are you doing?" Lucy called to him.

"Taking photos to send home to my dad," Colin replied, not looking at her. "Look this way, Harry! This way!"

"That little first-year is going to get into trouble one of these days," Ron muttered darkly.

"Be nice," Lucy scolded, nudging him with the toe of her shoe.

"Wait, look!" Hermione said, pointing down at the field.

Across from them strode seven students in green Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"What are they doing here?" Ron asked, shooting up from his seat, and Lucy and Hermione stood swiftly, as well.

Meanwhile, Oliver had descended and landed in front of the other team, followed closely by Harry, Fred, and George. Oliver seemed quite angry, throwing his arms up in the air. Soon, the three Gryffindor Chasers—Angelina, Katie, and Alicia—had landed beside their team, as well.

"C'mon, we can't just stand here," Ron said. He hurried towards the stairs.

"Ron, we're not on the team!" Lucy disagreed. "We should let them deal with it themselves."

Ron didn't listen as he descended the stairs towards the field. Lucy looked over at Hermione, who shrugged in defeat. They took off after Ron.

"Oh, look," the Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint drawled as the three second-years caught up to the teams. "A field invasion."

Lucy, Ron, and Hermione were surprised to see Malfoy standing with the Slytherin team, matching robes and brooms in hand.

"What's happening?" Ron demanded. "Why aren't you playing? What's _he_ doing here?"

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Malfoy explained with a satisfied smirk. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team," he added, gesturing to the broom he was holding. They were Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones, the latest broom on the market.

"Good, aren't they?" Malfoy continued at the surprised looks on Lucy's and Ron's faces. "Perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team laughed loudly at this.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," Hermione piped up, glowering at Malfoy. " _They_ got in on pure talent."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he scoffed.

There were gasps all around him. Flint quickly stepped in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George from tackling him. Alicia cried out, " _How dare you_!" Lucy had her wand out and leveled it at what she could see of Malfoy from behind Flint. Ron also whipped his wand out, brandishing it towards the Slytherins.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" he shouted, waving his wand, which let out a loud bang.

Everyone shielded their eyes at the bright green light as the spell backfired into Ron's stomach. Lucy opened her eyes to see Ron on his back in the grass.

Hermione was the first to drop down next to him. "Ron! Ron!" she yelled. "Are you all right?"

Lucy hurried over to kneel next to them. The girls heaved their friend up to a sitting position, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he burped, and a couple of slugs slid out of his mouth and into his lap.

The Gryffindor team surrounded Ron, looking down at him in concern. None of them wanted to get very close to him, however. The Slytherin team, on the other hand, were laughing hysterically.

Lucy got to her feet, glowering at them, before pointing her wand at them and muttering, " _Silencio_."

The Slytherins, no longer laughing, all clapped their hands to their throats.

"Where'd you learn that one?" George asked, looking apprehensively at Lucy.

"My mom used to use it on _everything_ ," Lucy replied. "She taught me that spell _years_ ago." Then she turned back to Ron.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's. It's nearest," Harry said to Lucy and Hermione.

The girls nodded, and the three of them hauled Ron to his feet. Lucy paused for a moment to point her wand once more at the Slytherins and say, " _Finite_." Then they began to help Ron off the field, leaving the rest of the Gryffindors to continue arguing with the Slytherins, who were now angry at having been silenced.

"What happened, Harry?" Colin had finally come down from the stands to see what the commotion was. "What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?"

Ron made a choking sound, and from his mouth came a few more slugs.

"Oooh! Can you hold him still, Harry?" Colin added, holding his camera up.

"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry snapped, brushing past the first-year with Hermione.

Lucy stopped to look at Colin. "Look, Colin, our friend's been cursed," she explained. "We need to get him some help, and it's not something that we need pictures of. Why don't you go back up to the castle? We'll see you later."

Colin looked slightly downcast, but he bid Lucy good-bye and started back to the castle. Lucy turned and hurried after her friends.

"Nearly there, Ron," Hermione was saying reassuringly. "You'll be all right in a minute—almost there."

They were just coming up to Hagrid's door when it opened from the inside. Instead of Hagrid greeting them, however, they saw that Lockhart was exiting the house. Harry pulled the other three quickly behind a bush, so Lockhart wouldn't see them.

"Harry, _why_ is this necessary?" Hermione asked, annoyance in her tone, but Harry shushed her.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart said cheerfully. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one.… I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!" He turned and marched swiftly back to the castle.

Harry waited quietly, keeping out of sight so that the professor wouldn't spot him. A few moments later, he finally gave in to Lucy's and Hermione's insistence that they needed to help Ron. The three of them pulled Ron up Hagrid's front steps, and Harry and Hermione knocked on the door.

Hagrid opened it for them, looking somewhat upset at first but brightening considerably when he saw who it was. "Bin wonderin' when yeh'd come ter see me," he said happily. "Come in, come in.… Thought yeh mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again.…"

Lucy and Hermione helped Ron into the cabin and onto a chair at the table while Harry explained what had happened.

Hagrid quickly produced a bucket and set it in front of Ron. "Better out than in," he reasoned. "Get 'em all up, Ron."

The other three took seats around the table, and Hagrid's dog Fang immediately bounded up to Harry. Lucy quickly coaxed Fang away, and he laid his head on her lap, panting and slobbering happily as she scratched his ears.

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," Hermione said. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand…"

Hagrid, meanwhile, busied himself with making tea for them all.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, reaching over and scratching the top of Fang's head.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," Hagrid replied, shaking his head. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

Lucy sniggered, although she was the only one to do so. Harry seemed mildly surprised, and Hermione looked downright insulted.

"I think you're being a bit unfair," she started. "Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job—"

"He was the _on'y_ man for the job," Hagrid cut in, "an' I mean the _on'y_ one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now." Hagrid heaved a sigh before changing the subject. "So, tell me: who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Hermione something," Harry said. "It must've been really bad, because everyone went wild."

"It _was_ bad," Ron croaked from under the table.

Lucy frowned in pity at him. "Malfoy called her _Mudblood_ , Hagrid," she reported.

Hagrid looked furious at this. "He didn'!" he said, looking to Hermione for confirmation.

"He did," she replied. "I don't know what it means, though. I could tell it was really rude, of course—"

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," Lucy said darkly. "Mudblood's a really cruel name for someone who is a Muggleborn."

"There are some wizards," Ron said shakily, looking up at Hermione, "like the Malfoy family, who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call _pureblood."_ He burped up a single slug, caught it, and tossed it into the bucket. "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all," he went on. "Look at Neville Longbottom—he's pureblood, and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," Hagrid announced, grinning at Hermione, who blushed darkly.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," Lucy commented, still upset with the situation. " _Dirty_ blood; _common_ blood. It's ridiculous! Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles, we'd've died out."

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," Hagrid said, "bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter the school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

"I don't think Ron could afford much more trouble now anyway," Lucy said. She looked sympathetically at Ron and told him, "Your mother would have been _so_ angry."

Ron responded by bending over his bucket and burping up another two slugs.

"Harry," Hagrid said suddenly, changing the subject. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard yeh've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven' got one?"

Harry turned angrily in his chair. "I have _not_ been giving out signed photos," he ground out. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around—"

Hagrid guffawed and patted Harry on the back, the force of which sent Harry into the table. "I'm on'y jokin'," Hagrid said. "I knew yeh hadn' really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need ter. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," Harry chuckled.

"Don' think he did," Hagrid agreed. "Then I told him I'd never read one o' his books, an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he offered as Ron finally sat up straight.

"No, thanks," Ron said. "Better not risk it."

The other three finished their tea, happy to see their friend getting the color back in his face.

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," Hagrid said, getting up from the table.

He took them out the back door and into his gardens. Then he gestured to the giant pumpkins sitting near the door. "Gettin' on well, aren' they?" Hagrid asked proudly. "Fer the Halloween feast.… Should be big enough by then."

"What've you been feeding them?" Harry asked.

"Well, I've bin givin' 'em—you know—a bit o' help…" Hagrid said, sounding guilty.

Hagrid had attended Hogwarts quite a few years ago, but he'd been expelled in his third year. The Ministry of Magic had snapped his wand, and he wasn't supposed to use magic. However, Lucy and her friends suspected that Hagrid had kept the pieces of his wand and concealed it inside his pink umbrella to continue using magic.

Hermione let out a small laugh and said, "An Engorgement Charm, I suppose? Well, you've done a good job on them."

"Tha's what yer little sister said," Hagrid replied, gesturing to Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday. Said she was jus' lookin' 'round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." Hagrid winked slyly to Harry. "If yeh ask me, _she_ wouldn' say no ter a signed—"

"Oh, shut up," Harry muttered darkly.

Ron snorted in amusement, and a few slugs spewed out of his nose and mouth.

"Watch it!" Hagrid shouted, wrapping his arm around Ron and hauling him away from the pumpkins in one move.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Eventually, lunchtime came, and the four students bid farewell to their friend. Harry was eager to eat, since he had never had a proper breakfast, so he led the way back up to the castle. The others followed closely with Ron burping up a few slugs along the way.

They stepped into the entrance hall and were immediately met by Professor McGonagall.

"There you are, Potter, Weasley," she said briskly. "You will both do your detentions this evening."

"What're we doing?" Ron asked.

" _You_ will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," the professor replied. "No magic, Weasley—elbow grease." Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and continued, "And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail."

"Oh, n—Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" Harry pleaded.

"Certainly not," Professor McGonagall replied. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you." She nodded to Lucy and Hermione in greeting and then marched away for the marble stairs.

Harry and Ron hung their heads low as the four of them entered the Great Hall for lunch.

They had just sat down and began to eat when Jeremy came up to them. Lucy quickly offered him a spot to join them, and he sat down. "Well, you guys look chipper," he commented teasingly to Harry and Ron.

"We were just given our detentions," Harry explained. "Ron is cleaning silver in the trophy room, and I'm helping Lockhart with his fan mail." He looked utterly disgusted at the idea.

"Filch'll have me there all night," Ron moaned. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."

Lucy found this hard to believe, considering how much _Muggle_ _cleaning_ Mrs. Weasley had her children do at the Burrow.

"I'd swap anytime," Harry countered. "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering Lockhart's fan mail… he'll be a nightmare!"

Lucy and Jeremy gave the boys sympathetic looks, while Hermione insisted that they had broken the rules, after all.

"So, about this afternoon," Jeremy started. "I don't know if Lucy told you, but I was thinking about going out to the Quidditch pitch for a bit of a fly, if anyone wanted to join me."

Harry and Ron both seemed to perk up at this idea. "Flying sounds great, actually," Harry replied, and Ron nodded his agreement.

"I'm in," Lucy said, smiling.

They all turned to look at Hermione.

"Well, I can't really fly…" she murmured, blushing slightly. "I don't want to get in the way."

"There's no better time to get in some practice, 'Mione!" Lucy exclaimed. "C'mon, just come out for a bit. Please?"

"Oh.… Fine, I suppose I can come with," Hermione sighed in defeat.

Lucy cheered, and Hermione ducked her head in embarrassment.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they finished eating, the five students stood up and headed back for the Quidditch pitch. Jeremy parted with them at the entrance hall, informing them he was going to get his friends and that he'd meet them down at the pitch.

"His friends?" Ron asked skeptically. "I didn't realize that _more_ Slytherins were going to be involved."

"Oh, be nice, Ron," Lucy said. "Not all Slytherins are like Malfoy. Besides, who said that they would all be Slytherins?"

They continued out of the castle and came face to face with Neville. "Hi, Neville," they greeted.

Neville waved back. "Where are you all going?" he asked.

"We're going to the Quidditch pitch to fly," Hermione replied. "Would you like to come down, too?"

"I'm really no good at flying," Neville insisted.

"I'm not, either, but they're making me go anyway," Hermione told him.

Lucy rolled her eyes, smirking. "We're not _making_ you," she scolded. "We just think it'd be fun!"

Neville pondered this for a moment when an excited shout came from behind them.

"Hi, Harry!" Colin Creevey came bounding up from behind them. "Nice day, isn't it?" He was beaming away, oblivious to the annoyed glare that Ron was giving him.

"Hi, Colin," Harry replied.

"Colin, would you like to come down to the Quidditch pitch with us?" Lucy asked kindly. "We can teach you how to fly!"

Colin's eyes widened gleefully. "That would be so awesome!" he squeaked. "I mean, as long as it's okay with your friends.…"

"Of course it's okay, Colin," Hermione assured the first-year.

Harry and Ron avoided Colin's gaze.

"Well, let's get going," Lucy said. "Neville, are you coming?"

"I—I suppose I could come with," he said, sounding uncertain. "I'm just afraid of falling off the broom.…"

"You won't fall, Neville," Harry piped up. "Lucy's right; let's get down to the pitch."

The group made their way across the lawn and entered the pitch. They went directly to the cupboard where all the school brooms were kept, except Harry—he went to the Gryffindor locker room to get his Nimbus Two Thousand. Soon Lucy was teaching Colin how to fly, while Neville and Hermione nervously hovered close to the ground. Harry and Ron, however, were racing around the field.

"Lucy!" a voice called out.

Jeremy was marching across the pitch, followed by three other students. Two of them Lucy recognized as fellow second-years; the girl was a Slytherin, and the boy was in Ravenclaw. The third student seemed younger than the others, so Lucy suspected that she was a first-year.

Jeremy and his friends joined Lucy and Colin, and Jeremy said, "I suppose introductions are in order. This is Daphne Greengrass—" He gestured to the girl that Lucy recognized from Potions class. "—this is Jake Fletcher—" He pointed to the boy. "—and this is Mary Poole. She's a first-year Slytherin."

"Hi," Lucy greeted, smiling. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lucy Jones, and this is Colin Creevey. He's a first-year Gryffindor."

Colin was watching the new group of students apprehensively.

"Never ridden a broom before?" Mary asked him, not unkindly.

"No," Colin replied. "I'm a Muggleborn; I didn't even know brooms could fly until I found out I was magic."

"Interesting," Mary said. "Well, come on, Colin. I'll teach you how to fly!" She marched off towards the center of the field.

Colin hesitated and only followed her when Lucy nodded at him. Hermione and Neville landed next to Lucy after that, and there were more introductions. Then Hermione and Neville went over to join Colin and Mary, leaving Lucy with Jeremy, Jake, and Daphne.

"So, you're the Gryffindor that Jeremy keeps abandoning us for," Daphne commented with a smirk.

"Shut up, Daph," Jeremy said with a shake of his head.

"I'm joking!" Daphne insisted. "She knows I'm joking, don't you, Lucy?"

Lucy smiled.

"Besides, I don't _abandon_ you," Jeremy said, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's just that I obviously have more friends than you do."

"We'll see about that, Whitlock," Daphne shot back.

"Aren't we supposed to be flying?" Jake spoke up, looking bored of Jeremy's and Daphne's argument.

"Sorry we're bugging you," Daphne said, flipping her long strawberry blonde ponytail over her shoulder. "Come on, Lucy. Let's show these boys how _real_ flying is done." She turned and stalked off towards the school broom cupboard.

Lucy glanced back over to Jeremy. "I like her," she said. "Go get your brooms, and let's race!" She winked, hopped onto her broom, and took off into the air.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The afternoon whipped by quickly in a blur of sun and wind. Soon the students were trooping back up to the castle to have dinner. After a nice meal, the Gryffindors went back to their common room.

Once there, Harry and Ron started a game of chess, while the girls sank into a couple of armchairs. Hermione pulled out one of her Lockhart books and buried her nose in it. Evie immediately jumped up into Lucy's lap, and Lucy began stroking her while watching Harry's and Ron's chess match.

A little while later, Ginny came through the portrait hole, and Lucy immediately waved her over. "Hi, Ginny," Lucy said, smiling. "I haven't seen you much this week. How has it been going so far?"

"Everything's been all right," Ginny replied. "How was your first week?"

"Mine went well," Lucy said. "Lockhart has been an interesting teacher to get used to. Which class is your favorite so far?"

"I'm actually really liking Charms," Ginny answered. "Potions isn't bad, either."

" _Potions_?" Ron asked, looking up from his game. "You like Potions? Why?"

"Well, it's different," Ginny explained. "It's not just waving your wand and saying an incantation. It reminds me of cooking; you have to get the recipe just right, or you might kill someone."

Lucy snorted.

"But Snape's a git," Ron brushed off.

"He's not that bad if you stay quiet and pay attention," Ginny said. "I know that might be a little hard for you."

"Go away, Ginny," Ron growled, turning back to the chessboard.

Lucy watched as a look of hurt crossed Ginny's face. "Ron, be nice to your sister," Lucy scolded. "Ginny, do you want to sit down with us?"

"No, that's okay," Ginny replied in a hard voice. "I'm a bit tired. I think I'm going to go upstairs and relax." With that, Ginny left for her dormitory.

Lucy frowned, watching her go. Then she turned back to Ron. "I can't believe you could be so mean to your own sister!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, she'll be fine," Ron said.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

 **~LJ:SD~**

About an hour later, Harry and Ron stood up and bid Lucy and Hermione good night. It was nearly eight o'clock, which meant they needed to get going to their detentions.

"Good luck," Lucy said as they walked away.

"So," Hermione said, drawing Lucy's attention to her, "this afternoon was quite interesting."

"Yeah, what's Mary like?" Lucy asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"She was pretty nice, to be honest," Hermione replied. "I was a bit surprised. I know Jeremy is nice, but I figured that the rest of the Slytherins were unfriendly towards Gryffindors."

"This is exactly why the houses need to interact more," Lucy said. "I'm sure most of the Slytherins are quite decent people, but we don't know because everyone just thinks that Gryffindors and Slytherins can't get along."

Hermione shrugged.

Soon the girls decided to turn in for the night. It was still slightly early, but since they didn't have much homework, they decided it would be nice to get some extra sleep. After bidding Hermione good night, Lucy snuggled into her four-poster bed. She curled up next to Evie and fell asleep.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: I really struggled with whether or not Lucy should know what a Mudblood is, because she's from a completely different magical culture. Eventually, I decided that Mudblood was probably more universal than other things. Lucy does touch on differences between the American Wizarding society and the British one in future stories.**_

 _ **Daphne, Jake, and Mary have two major roles throughout these stories: one, it's to show that Jeremy has other friends besides Lucy; and two, it's to show more interactions between students in different houses. I feel like that's one thing that's really lacking in the Harry Potter series, especially when it comes to Slytherin students. I mean, they can't ALL be like Malfoy!**_

 _ **Also, the interaction between Ron and Ginny towards the end is something that came from a fan theory that I read once and really liked. It was the idea that Ron and Ginny were very close as children - practically best friends - because they were so close in age and they probably spent most of their time with each other. The theory goes that part of the reason why Ginny became so dependent on the diary is because she went off to school and Ron had stopped treating her as his best friend (because he had Harry and Hermione now), so she was feeling left out and maybe even a little betrayed. So, I wanted to show Ron kind of blowing Ginny off and that Ginny is actually hurt by it.**_


	7. 7: Halloween

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Halloween**

The days continued through September and into October. The weather outside the castle became colder and gloomier. Weekends were now spent doing an endless amount of homework; Lucy and her friends hardly even had time to visit Hagrid anymore, because their classes were becoming more demanding. Harry also had Quidditch practice multiple days of the week. Lucy didn't envy him for that.

Lucy was so far enjoying her second-year. Her circle of friends had grown considerably. She made a lot of study dates with Jeremy, Daphne, and Jake; they met in the library, where they were periodically shushed by the librarian Madam Pince.

When Lucy studied in the common room, she was usually joined by Hermione, Ron, and Harry—when he wasn't at practice. Sally-Anne sometimes studied with her, as well. Every once in a while, Lucy would even help Colin with his homework; Harry and Ron usually made themselves scarce whenever they saw Colin approaching them, however.

Whenever Lucy needed a break from her studies, Fred and George never failed to be helpful. There were many games of Exploding Snap played in order to distract from class work.

The only person that seemed distant was Ginny. Lucy was concerned about the younger girl, but whenever she tried to ask Ginny how she was doing, Ginny would brush her off. Lucy hardly ever saw Ginny at mealtimes anymore, but she knew through Colin that Ginny was at least attending her classes.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The Saturday before Halloween found Lucy and Ron sitting in the common room and doing their Potions homework. Hermione had already finished her Potions and had continued on to her History of Magic essay. Harry was once again out at Quidditch practice.

"Hermione, could I just _peek_ at your Potions?" Ron begged for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "How do you ever expect to learn anything on your own if I let you copy off mine?" she said exasperatedly.

"I'm not trying to copy you!" Ron insisted. "I just want to make sure that my answers are right."

"Well, then, you can read me your answers," Hermione replied with a smirk, "and I'll let you know if they're right."

Ron flushed a bit, looking down at his paper. "I hadn't gotten that far yet," he mumbled darkly.

Hermione chuckled and returned to her essay.

Ron started, "Hey, Lucy—"

"Don't even ask me, Ron," Lucy stopped him before he could finish. "I'm not going to let you cheat off me, either."

The portrait hole swung open then, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team came piling in, looking quite muddy.

Lucy looked up expectantly, but she didn't see Harry among them. "Hey, George, Fred!" she called as the twins came marching by. They both stopped and grinned at her, and she smiled back. "Where's Harry?" she asked.

The boys shrugged.

"He's not here already?" George asked. "I thought he left before us."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Fred added. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to have a shower."

"Together?" Lucy asked, snorting in laughter.

George rolled his eyes, and the brothers left for the boys' staircase.

It was almost twenty minutes later that Harry arrived in the common room. He hurried to his friends, saying that he had something to tell them, then disappeared up to his dormitory.

Ron said, "Hermione—"

"Ronald, I'm _not_ going to do your homework for you," Hermione snapped at him, and Ron grumbled something incoherently.

Lucy flicked his arm. "Seriously, Ron, you're not going to learn anything if you don't even try," she scolded him.

Ron dropped his homework onto the table in front of them and flopped back into his chair. "I _am_ trying," he insisted, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand.

Lucy set her homework down, as well. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

A few minutes later, Harry returned, free of mud and his hair damp. He came over to the table and sat in the open seat.

"So, what's up, Harry?" Lucy prompted him immediately. "What did you want to tell us?"

"I ran into Nick on the way back to the common room," Harry started. "Apparently, the anniversary of his death is coming up—on Halloween—and he's invited all of us to his deathday party."

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington—known as Nearly Headless Nick to the students—was the Gryffindor house ghost. The reason he was called _nearly_ _headless_ was because his murderer had used a blunt axe that hadn't completely chopped off Nick's head. His head was now attached to his neck by just a bit of skin.

"A deathday party?" Hermione repeated, intrigued. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those—it'll be fascinating!"

"So, it's like a birthday party, except it's for his death," Lucy said. "Very… interesting."

"Why would anybody want to celebrate the way they died?" Ron protested. "Sounds dead depressing to me."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Stop being so grumpy about your Potions homework," she said. "If you want, we can work together." This seemed to brighten Ron up a bit.

Suddenly, there was a bang, and a small salamander shot into the air from where Fred and George were now sitting. Percy jumped up and started yelling at his younger brothers, telling them to stop the salamander immediately, but the rest of the students were too amused by the creature flying around the room to pay him any attention.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy had nearly forgotten about the deathday party until Halloween day, when Harry confided in his friends that he was regretting his decision to go.

"A promise is a promise," Hermione admonished. "You _said_ you'd go to the party."

"Just because Harry said he'd go doesn't mean the rest of us should have to," Ron muttered, to which Lucy nudged him.

"He's our friend, and we have to have his back," she said to him.

Ron huffed but didn't say anything else.

 **~LJ:SD~**

In the evening, the four friends split off from the rest of the school to go to the deathday party. The rest of Gryffindor house were making their way into the Great Hall, while Lucy and her friends headed down to the dungeons. The further they went, the colder it became, and as they neared the dungeon, they could hear a high-pitched screeching noise.

"Is that supposed to be _music_?" Ron asked under his breath, wrinkling his nose.

Hermione marched on ahead of them, and the other three followed sluggishly. They rounded a corner and came face to face with Nearly Headless Nick.

"My dear friends," he greeted in a sorrowful voice. "Welcome, welcome.… So pleased you could come.…" He bowed them into the dungeon, and they hesitantly entered.

There were hundreds of ghosts already present, floating around the room. It was also much colder once they were in the dungeon rather than when they were in the passageway.

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry asked, seeming uncertain about what to do next.

"Careful not to walk through anyone," Ron added dryly.

They made their way around the edge of the room, Lucy and Hermione pulling their robes closer around themselves.

All of a sudden, Hermione stopped in her tracks. "Oh no," she muttered. "Turn back. Turn back! I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle—"

Lucy couldn't help but crane her head around, looking for the ghost in question.

"Who?" Harry asked with a blank look on his face.

"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," Lucy explained to him and Ron.

"She haunts a _toilet_?" Ron repeated in disbelief.

"Yes," Hermione answered. "It's nearly always out-of-order, because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there, anyway, if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you—"

"Look—food!" Ron interrupted as he spotted a table, and Hermione huffed quietly at him cutting her off.

They were almost to the table when they stopped, their noses wrinkling against the stench. The food on the table was all rotten and gone bad. The four Gryffindors watched as a ghost drifted up to the table, opened his mouth wide, and floated through the table so the food passed through his mouth.

"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" Harry asked the ghost.

"Almost," he croaked before gliding back towards the dance floor.

"I expect they've let it rot to give it a strong flavor," Hermione speculated, and Lucy shuddered.

"Can we move? I feel sick," Ron said, looking dejected.

They turned away from the table when a ghost-like creature swooped in front of them. It was Peeves, the Poltergeist of Hogwarts.

"Hello, Peeves," Harry greeted politely.

"Nibbles?" Peeves offered with a mischievous grin, holding up a bowl of moldy peanuts.

Lucy struggled to stop herself from gagging.

"No, thanks," Hermione said.

"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle," Peeves said to her, giggling nastily. " _Rude_ you was about poor Myrtle."

"Please, like _you've_ never been rude to anybody," Lucy muttered, glaring at the Poltergeist.

Peeves leered gleefully at her before opening his mouth wide. "OY! MYRTLE!" he shouted.

"Oh, no, Peeves! Don't tell her what I said! She'll be really upset," Hermione begged desperately. "I didn't mean it! I don't mind her—er, hello, Myrtle."

The ghost of the girl had floated up to them. She looked positively miserable. "What?" she sniffed at Peeves.

"How are you Myrtle?" Hermione put in immediately. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."

Myrtle didn't say anything, giving Hermione a leveling stare.

"Miss Granger was just talking about you," Peeves stage whispered into Myrtle's ear.

"Just saying—saying—how nice you look tonight," Hermione said hurriedly, shooting a hard look at Peeves.

"You're making fun of me," Myrtle said, her eyes watering.

"No, no!" Lucy jumped in, trying to help her friend. "Hermione was telling us that you look lovely tonight. Right?" She elbowed the boys.

"Oh, yeah," Ron said vaguely.

"She did," Harry agreed, looking nervously at the female ghost.

"Don't lie to me!" Myrtle cried. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"

Peeves smirked at the second-years over her shoulder. "You've forgotten pimply," he added nastily in the ghost's ear.

Myrtle screamed out a sob and zoomed away. Peeves winked meanly at Lucy and her friends before floating after Myrtle, throwing moldy peanuts after her.

"Oh, dear," Hermione muttered.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Nick had appeared at their sides.

"Oh, yes," the four of them said immediately.

"Not a bad turnout. The Wailing Widow came all the way up from Kent," Nick said, beaming around the dungeon. "Well, it's nearly time for my speech. I'd better go and warn the orchestra."

Before he could go anywhere, however, the orchestra halted on its own. A faint blasting of a horn could be heard.

"Oh, here we go," Nick muttered darkly.

Through the wall burst a group of ghost horses. Each one was mounted by a headless rider. The rest of the ghost guests began clapping enthusiastically.

The rider at the head of the pack jumped down from his horse, holding his head in his hand. "Nick!" he shouted, making his way towards Nick. "How are you? Head still hanging in there?" He planted his head back onto his neck and then thumped Nick a couple times on the shoulder.

"Welcome, Patrick," Nick replied coolly.

Patrick beamed around the room, and his focus zeroed in on the four Gryffindors. "Live 'uns!" he gasped. He pretended to jump away from them in fear, causing his head to roll off his shoulders.

The crowd seemed to love that, breaking out into more cheers. Lucy frowned.

"Very amusing," Nick muttered, scowling.

"Don't mind Nick!" Patrick continued loudly to the crowd. "Still upset we won't let him join the Headless Hunt! But I mean to say—look at the fellow—!"

"I think," Harry started off, looking nervous, "Nick's very—frightening and—er—"

"Ha!" Patrick shouted. "Bet he asked you to say that!"

Lucy glared at him. "Being dead doesn't give you the right to be rude," she spat. "So far, Nick is ten times the ghost that you are, even if his head is still on his shoulders!"

Patrick narrowed his eyes at her, and out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Nick beaming proudly.

"If I could have everyone's attention," Nick called, making his way over to the podium at the front of the dungeon, "it's time for my speech!" He gathered himself for a moment before beginning, "My late lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen, it is my great sorrow…"

Patrick took it upon himself to begin a game of Head Hockey with his fellow members as Nick tried to continue his speech.

Lucy was seething, but then she heard Ron mutter, "I can't stand much more of this." The orchestra started to play their terrible music again, and Lucy turned to see all three of her friends shivering.

"Let's go," Harry replied, and the other three nodded.

They quickly scampered for the dungeon door, shooting smiles at any ghosts who bothered to look at them. There weren't many. Lucy felt bad for leaving without saying anything to Nick, but she could feel the warmth of the castle as they hurried out the door and up the steps.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," Ron said as he took the lead to the entrance hall.

"Always thinking about food," Lucy teased, although getting anything to eat sounded like heaven to her empty stomach.

Suddenly, Harry stopped. He clutched to the wall, pressing an ear against it and looking up and down the hall.

Hermione started, "Harry, what're you—?"

"It's that voice again—shut up a minute," he urged, and Hermione clammed up immediately.

Lucy and Ron exchanged a confused look.

"Listen!" Harry exclaimed, but the other three could only watch him dumbfounded.

"What voice, Harry?" Lucy asked.

Harry sprang away from the wall and sprinted for the main marble staircase. "This way!" he called back at them, and they hurried after him.

They shot through the entrance hall and up the stairs, and Hermione asked, "Harry, what're we—?"

"SHH!" Harry insisted as he lead the way. Then, after a few seconds of only panting, Harry shouted, "It's going to kill someone!"

" _What_?" Lucy asked, feeling so confused.

They ran along a corridor, Harry in the lead. Finally, they hurtled around one last corner to a corridor with a dead end. Harry skidded to a stop, and the others followed suit.

"Harry, _what_ was that all about?" Ron asked, wiping his face with the sleeve of his robes. "I couldn't hear anything!"

"Neither could I," Lucy agreed.

Hermione let out a gasp and pointed towards the end of the corridor. " _Look_!" she cried hoarsely.

Harry immediately started down the corridor, with his friends following. When they got close enough, they could see that words had been painted onto the wall at the end of the hall.

" _The Chamber of Secrets has been opened_ ," Lucy read aloud. " _Enemies of the heir, beware._ What does _that_ mean?"

"What's that thing—hanging underneath?" Ron asked, sounding anxious. He pointed to the torch on the wall.

Harry slowly stepped closer, pausing for a moment when his foot touched water. There was a large puddle on the floor, Lucy now noticed.

They took a few more steps forward, and then they were close enough to see what was hanging there: it was Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. The four of them sprang backwards. Water soaked into Lucy's shoes as they splashed through the puddle. They all stared at the cat, transfixed and not sure what to do next.

"Let's get out of here," Ron finally spoke up.

"Shouldn't we try and help?" Harry asked desperately.

Lucy shook her head. "Trust me," she said. "We don't want to be found here."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, however, they heard a noise growing nearer. The rest of the student body had finished the Halloween feast and were coming down the corridor. Lucy and the others couldn't move as the chattering groups of people caught up to them. They all slowed and stopped, staring at the cat hanging from the wall and the words glittering around her.

" _Enemies of the heir, beware_!" Malfoy had elbowed his way to the front, smiling gleefully. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Lucy glared at Malfoy, but before she could say anything, another voice was shouting above the crowd. "What's going on here? What's going on?"

Lucy's stomach dropped as Filch pushed through the crowd of students. When he noticed what was on the wall, he let out a cry of pain. "My cat! My cat!" he wailed. "What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He looked around wildly before his eyes landed on Harry. " _You_! _You_! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her!"

Harry was shaking his head vigorously.

"I'll kill you!" Filch screamed. "I'll—!"

" _Argus_!"

Lucy let out a sigh of relief as Professor Dumbledore strode up the hallway towards them, followed by most of the other professors. He surveyed the scene briefly before reaching out and detaching the cat from the torch on the wall. "Come with me, Argus," he said softly to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Jones."

Lockhart jumped forward. "My office is nearest, Headmaster," he said eagerly. "Just upstairs—please feel free—"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said.

He set off down the hall, with Filch trudging after him. Lockhart followed, beaming away at the students as he passed. Harry led his friends next after a stern look from Professor McGonagall, who took up the rear with Snape.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Once in Lockhart's office, Dumbledore laid Mrs. Norris on the desk and bent over her. Professor McGonagall silently ushered the four Gryffindors into chairs along the wall.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her," Lockhart said loudly, pacing around the table. "Probably the Transmogrifian Torture—I've seen it used many times. So unlucky I wasn't there! I know the very countercurse that would have saved her.…"

Lucy glanced at Hermione to see her giving Lockhart her rapt attention.

Next to the desk, Filch sat hunched over in a chair, holding his face in his hands. He was heaving dry sobs and shaking, not able to look at his cat. Meanwhile, Dumbledore took his wand out and started tapping the cat, muttering words under his breath.

"I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou," Lockhart continued. "A series of attacks—the full story's in my autobiography—I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared up the matter at once." He took a breath and started to count how many murders he had personally prevented, but he was interrupted when Dumbledore straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," the headmaster informed the room.

Lockhart halted mid word.

Filch stopped crying. "Not dead?" he asked, sounding unconvinced. "Then why's she all—all stiff and frozen?

"She has been Petrified," Dumbledore replied.

"Ah! I thought so!" Lockhart cut in, beaming.

"No, you bloody didn't," Ron muttered under his breath so only Lucy could hear, and she had to stifle a giggle.

"But how, I cannot say," Dumbledore finished, ignoring Lockhart.

"Ask _him_!" Filch cried, pointing wildly in Harry's direction, to which Lucy rolled her eyes.

"No second-year could have done this," Dumbledore said evenly but firmly. "It would take Dark magic of the most advanced—"

"He did it! He did it!" Filch screamed over Dumbledore, jumping up. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found—in my office—he knows I'm a—I'm a—He knows I'm a Squib!"

Lucy and Ron exchanged elbow nudges at this exclamation, but Hermione looked sympathetic.

"I never _touched_ Mrs. Norris!" Harry insisted. "And I don't even know what a Squib _is_."

"Rubbish!" Filch hissed angrily. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might speak, Headmaster," Snape called out softly. He stepped closer to the desk from where he'd been hiding in the shadows. "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"

"We were at Nick's deathday party!" Lucy exclaimed, very annoyed that they were being accused of something that Dumbledore himself said they couldn't have done.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded and chimed in to help explain.

"There were hundreds of ghosts," Ron finished. "They'll tell you we were there!"

"And why not join the feast afterward?" Snape asked. "Why go up to that corridor?"

Lucy was fuming, but she saw Hermione look anxiously at Harry.

Harry stuttered, "Because—because—because we were tired and wanted to go to bed."

"Without any supper?" Snape pressed. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," Ron announced, which was almost drowned out by his stomach letting out a loud rumble.

Snape smiled in victory.

"What's it to you that we decided we didn't want to go to the feast?" Lucy snapped. "We didn't touch Mrs. Norris, and we didn't write those words on that wall!"

Snape's smile turned into a sneer, and he turned back to Dumbledore. "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he concluded. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest—"

"Really, Severus," Professor McGonagall finally spoke up, eyeing Snape suspiciously, "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."

Dumbledore was ignoring both professors. He was simply looking at Harry. "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he finally stated.

Snape and Filch both looked furious.

"My cat has been Petrified!" Filch bellowed. "I want to see some _punishment_!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," Dumbledore reassured him. "Professor Sprout has recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it!" Lockhart volunteered enthusiastically. "I must have done it a hundred times! I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep."

"Excuse me," Snape cut in coldly, "but I believe _I_ am the Potions Master at this school."

There was a tense silence as Snape stared down the oblivious Lockhart.

Dumbledore turned to the four students. "You may go," he said softly to them.

Without hesitation, all four of them stood up from their seats and rushed out of the office. They were quiet as they hurried up a floor and entered an empty classroom. Hermione sank into a chair, and Lucy hopped up the accompanying a desk, while the boys stood in front of them.

"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"No," Ron immediately answered. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the Wizarding world."

"You do believe me, don't you?" Harry asked.

"'Course I do," Ron replied, "but—you must admit it's _weird_."

"I know it's weird," Harry said. "The whole _thing's_ weird. What was that writing on the wall about? _The Chamber Has Been Opened._ … What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," Ron said. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once—might've been Bill."

"And what on _earth_ is a Squib?" Harry asked.

Ron let out a snort of laughter, which Hermione quickly shushed. "It's not funny, Ron," she admonished.

"It's Filch, though!" Ron chuckled.

Lucy smirked. "A Squib is someone who was born into a Wizarding family but doesn't have any magical powers," she explained to Harry. "They're kind of the opposite of a Muggleborn. It's really not _that_ funny, but seeing as it's Filch.…" She shrugged.

"If he's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib," Ron continued. "It would explain a lot, like why he hates students so much. He's bitter," he finished, smiling slightly.

A clock started chiming somewhere.

"Midnight," Harry said. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: Again, that mention at the beginning that Ginny is becoming distant... I really think that, even though Lucy loves her like a sister, Ginny would be the most upset about Ron not treating her the same as he used to, and so she begins to isolate herself. That diary really becomes her only "friend".**_

 _ **"Squib" was another term that I wasn't sure if Lucy should know or not, because it could be a British slang term, just like Muggle is. Sometimes it really is easier to just say "yep, that's a word that is used in most Wizarding societies." Just another brief note that really doesn't make a difference in this story: according to Pottermore, basically, a Squib is a non-magical person who has a magical parent. In this story (and any other AUs I come up with), that's not true. A Squib can only be born to two magical parents. If one parent is magical and one is not, their children have an equal chance of being magical or non-magical. Any non-magical children would then just be a Muggle like their non-magical parent.**_

 _ **Also, I was reading through this one more time after I'd uploaded it (and before I posted it, obviously) and realized that I had Malfoy saying "Enemies of the Hair, beware!" OF THE HAIR. ENEMIES OF THE HAIR. I need the emoji of the person with the hand over their face. I don't know how many times I've read through this chapter, and I've only just now seen that!**_


	8. 8: The Legend of the Chamber

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – The Legend of the Chamber**

The attack on Mrs. Norris was all the school could talk about for the next week. Filch was constantly attempting to scrub the words from the wall, but nothing he tried seemed to work. In his increasingly irritable state, he began handing out detentions for any excuse he could find.

A few days after the incident, Lucy and Ron were sitting in the common room when Ginny came up to them. She sank onto the couch between the two of them, looking very pale and shaky.

"Are you okay, Gin?" Lucy asked, immediately setting her Transfiguration homework down and putting her arm around the girl.

"Ginny's just a big cat lover," Ron butted in. He turned to his sister and added, "You haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris, though. Honestly, we're much better off without her."

Lucy glared at him for a moment before turning back to Ginny. "Stuff like this doesn't normally happen at Hogwarts," Lucy said soothingly.

"They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time," Ron continued. "I just hope he has time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking!" he added as Ginny gasped.

She hopped up without a word and hurried off to the girls' dormitory stairs.

"Nice one, Ron," Lucy scolded, swatting at his shoulder.

"She'll be fine," Ron replied, flipping through a few pages of his textbook. After scanning one of the pages, he let out a loud groan and pushed it away from him. "Where is Hermione to tell me what this is saying?" he complained, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"Hermione wouldn't do your homework for you," Lucy said, chuckling. "She's been in the library for the past few days anyway."

"It's not even exam time. What's she doing spending so much time in there?" Ron whined.

"Why does it matter to you?" Lucy asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"W-well, I mean," Ron stammered, "she just hasn't been around a lot recently, is all. Also, she's usually around to at least read my homework for me to make sure I'm doing it right."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Lucy shot back. "I may not be quite as smart as Hermione, but I at least pay attention, which is more than you can say. Give it here," she added, holding out her hand for his homework.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Hermione was very distant for the next few days. Even when Lucy, Harry, and Ron joined her in the library, she wouldn't speak to them as she read. She spent the whole weekend in the library, as well.

Wednesday found the Gryffindor second-years back in the dungeons with the Slytherins, attending Potions class. Harry and Ron took the table next to Lucy and Hermione. Before class started, Jeremy and Daphne came up to the girls.

"Hey, Lucy," Jeremy greeted, grinning. "Mind if we sit at your table?"

Lucy glanced at Hermione, who didn't even look up from the book she was reading. "Sure. Go for it," Lucy replied. As the Slytherins slid onto stools on the other side of the table, Lucy added, "Don't mind Hermione; she's had her nose in books since this whole Chamber of Secrets thing happened."

"It's all good," Daphne said, pulling her textbook out of her bag. "I don't blame her for wanting to find out about the chamber. We all want to know what it is."

Hermione finally looked up, closing the book she was holding. "Hello, Jeremy, Daphne," she said. "Sorry about that. I was in the middle of a section I wanted to finish."

Snape entered the dungeon, and the entire class went silent. He set them to taking notes on the potion for the day, and then they started to brew said potion. There wasn't much talking between students as they concentrated on their work, until Malfoy got bored and decided to start trouble.

"I'm surprised that there are still Mudbloods in the school at this point," he said loudly to his friends around him. "If I were one—thank Merlin I'm not—I would have been on the first train home."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry snarled.

Snape swooped down on them and told them to continue working. "Mr. Potter, you will stay after and scrape tubeworms off the desks," he finished, completely ignoring Malfoy and his friends making faces across the dungeon.

Lucy rolled her eyes but held her tongue.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Class ended, and while everyone else hurried to pack up and get to lunch, Lucy turned to Harry.

"We're going to lunch and then up to the library, so if you don't see us in the Great Hall, you know where to find us," she said to him, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay," Harry sighed. "Wish me luck."

Lucy smirked. "Have fun," she replied. Then she hurried to join her friends leaving the dungeons.

"Jeremy!" she called, catching up to them. "Do you want to have lunch together?"

"I'm in," Jeremy replied. "Daph?"

Daphne nodded, so the three of them joined up with Ron and Hermione. The group walked silently into the Great Hall and took seats at the Gryffindor table.

"I'm not going to be staying very long," Hermione informed them once they were all sitting. "I need to get back to the library."

"Are you just trying to read through the entire library before the holidays?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes and filling his plate with food.

"I'll let you know when I find what I'm looking for," Hermione replied coolly before starting her lunch.

"So," Lucy said, turning to the Slytherins, "how have you two been?"

"Good," Jeremy answered, shrugging. "All anyone has been talking about is Mrs. Norris and the Chamber of Secrets."

"Yeah, Malfoy has been parading around the common room, talking about how he hopes that the heir will get rid of all the Muggleborns in the school by Christmas," Daphne added, scowling. "He's such a scum bag."

"Well, we're glad not all Slytherins hate Muggleborns," Lucy said, smiling slightly.

"It's just so stupid!" Daphne exclaimed. "Who cares where we come from? We can all do magic, so who cares if your parents can or not?"

Jeremy nodded his agreement.

Hermione finished her food and stood up quickly. "I'll be in the library," she announced. "I'll see you all later!" With that, she hurried off.

"She's been so obsessed with the library ever since Mrs. Norris was Petrified," Ron said. "What is she looking for?"

"Ron, she's a Muggleborn," Jeremy said. "With all this talk about the Chamber of Secrets and Muggleborns not being safe, it's no wonder she wants to figure out what the chamber actually is."

"Well, why can't she just tell us what she's doing?" Ron insisted.

"Leave her alone," Lucy scolded.

Jeremy took that as his cue to start up a conversation about Quidditch, which everyone joined immediately.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they were finished eating, Jeremy and Daphne said good-bye and headed back to their common room to get ready for their next class. Lucy and Ron went to the library to meet up with Hermione. They found her amongst some shelves, looking through a book.

"Hermione, can I borrow your History of Magic essay?" Ron asked as they approached her.

Hermione sent him a dark look over the top of her book. "No," she said flatly. "You have half an hour before class starts. Go over to one of those tables and finish it yourself."

Ron huffed in annoyance and stomped off to sit at an empty studying table. Lucy followed, glad that she had already finished her essay.

Ten minutes later, Harry joined them.

Ron was measuring his essay for the third time since he and Lucy had sat down. "I don't believe it. I'm still eight inches short," he complained.

"You should have done your homework last week instead of playing Exploding Snap every night!" Lucy exclaimed.

Ron scowled. "I don't know how Hermione did four feet seven inches. Her writing is _tiny_ ," he mumbled, letting his parchment roll up into a scroll.

Harry had pulled out his own essay and grabbed the tape measure. "Where is she?" he asked as he measured. "Two feet eleven—that's close enough, right?"

"She's in the stacks somewhere," Lucy answered his first question. "I think she's still looking for a book, although I don't know which one."

" _I_ think she's trying to read the whole library by Christmas," Ron commented. Lucy gave him a withering look, but he didn't notice.

"So, listen to this," Harry started, putting his homework back into his bag. "I was on my way up here and was about to cross paths with Justin—you know, the Hufflepuff—when he turned around and practically ran away from me."

"Dunno why you care," Ron said, unfurling his parchment and adding more to his essay. "I thought he was a bit of an idiot—all that junk about Lockhart being so great."

Harry shrugged.

Then Hermione came striding towards them, hands empty. " _All_ the copies of _Hogwarts, a History_ have been taken out," she told them angrily. She sat down next to Lucy. "There's a two-week waiting list for a library copy. I _wish_ I hadn't left mine at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

"Why do you want it?" Harry asked.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," Hermione sighed. "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?" Harry pressed, looking eager.

"That's just it. I can't remember," Hermione replied, "and I can't find the story anywhere else!"

"Hermione, let me read your composition," Ron cut in, glancing nervously at his watch.

"No, I won't," Hermione snapped. "You've had ten days to finish it!"

"I only need another two inches!" Ron shot back, shaking his essay in his hand. "Come on—!"

"Ron, she said no," Lucy berated.

The bell rang, and Ron shoved his scroll into his bag, muttering darkly. "I only needed two more inches," he snarled at Hermione.

"Ron, how are you ever going to learn if I let you copy my homework?" Hermione said.

The two of them settled into a very familiar argument as they walked to their next class, while Lucy and Harry followed along behind them.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they got to History of Magic, Hermione and Ron sat at tables that we next to each other but on the outside seats, so Lucy and Harry would sit between them. Harry sat next to Hermione, and Lucy sat next to Ron. Professor Binns, the ghost professor, floated into the room a few minutes later and began the lecture.

The class quickly fell into a stupor, with only Hermione paying attention to take proper notes. Ron laid his head in one hand, his elbow up on the desk, while Harry doodled on a bit of parchment. Lucy concentrated hard enough to write down names the professor mentioned, but it was difficult for her to focus on much more than that.

Half an hour into the lesson, however, Hermione raised her hand high into the air, stopping Professor Binns in the middle of a sentence. Sounding quite confused, he said, "Miss—er—?"

"Granger, Professor," Hermione replied. "I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

Lucy sat up straighter in her seat. She could hear faint movement from her classmates rousing themselves from near-sleep.

"My subject is History of Magic," the old ghost said. "I deal with _facts_ , Miss Granger—not myths and legends." He took a moment to gather himself before continuing with his lecture.

Hermione, not prepared to take _no_ for an answer, thrust her arm back into the air.

Professor Binns stopped again, looking a bit stern. "Miss Grant?" he prompted.

"Please, sir, don't legends always have basis in fact?" Hermione pressed.

There was a moment of silence as Professor Binns eyed Hermione suspiciously. "Well, yes, one could argue that, I suppose," he replied. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very _sensational_ , even _ludicrous_ tale…" He trailed off, looking around the room at all the attentive students.

"Oh, very well," he sighed. "Let me see.… The Chamber of Secrets. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago—the precise date is uncertain—by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together—far from prying Muggle eyes—for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. Then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others; Slytherin wished to be more _selective_ about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families, and he disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," Professor Binns continued, a bitter edge to his voice, "but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets.

"The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

All the students were hanging onto the professor's words as his story came to an end, and Professor Binns looked annoyed. "The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched many times for evidence of such a chamber by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale to frighten the gullible."

Hermione raised her hand immediately. "Sir—what exactly do you mean by the _horror_ _within_ the chamber?" she asked when he called on her.

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," Professor Binns replied. The class looked around at each other uneasily, and Professor Binns stated firmly, "I tell you, the thing does not exist. There is no chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," Seamus spoke up, "if the chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else _would_ be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," Professor Binns replied. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing—"

"But, Professor," Parvati cut in, "you'd probably have to use Dark magic to open it!"

"Just because a wizard _doesn't_ use Dark magic doesn't mean he _can't_ , Miss Pennyfeather," Professor Binns answered, seemingly growing weary of the conversation. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore—"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin," Dean began, "so Dumbledore couldn't—"

"That will do," Professor Binns snapped. The class looked slightly taken aback at the professor's irritation as he went on, "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to _history_ —to solid, believable, verifiable _fact_!"

With that, History of Magic returned to its normal state.

 **~LJ:SD~**

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron said as the four second-years fought their way through the crowded corridor after class, "but I never knew _he_ started all this pureblood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home—"

Hermione nodded along with him, while Harry stayed quiet.

"That's not fair, Ron," Lucy said disapprovingly. "Salazar Slytherin lived a thousand years ago when witches and wizards were hunted because the Muggles were scared of magic. It sort of makes sense that he was wary of people who came from non-magical families. But there are plenty of people in Slytherin who don't hate Muggleborns."

Ron started hotly, "Just because there are a few Slytherins that you've met—!"

"No, stop it, Ronald Weasley!" Lucy shrieked back at him. "You can't be judging people you've never met based simply on what house they're in! The Sorting Hat picks your house based on the traits you value, not your political beliefs."

"Hiya, Harry!" a voice called out from the crowd going the other way. Colin Creevey was waving his arm high above his head in their general direction.

"Hullo, Colin," Harry replied.

"Harry—Harry!" Colin called out. "A boy in my class has been saying—!" He was unable to finish, because the crowd continued to pull him away. "See you, Harry!" he was able to add as he moved out of sight towards the Great Hall.

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," Harry muttered darkly.

"People here'll believe anything," Ron said.

As they climbed the stairs away from the Great Hall, walking became much easier, as most of the crowd was heading to dinner.

"D'you _really_ think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Dumbledore himself couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be—well— _human_."

They all turned the corner and found themselves in the corridor where the attack had happened. The message on the wall was gleaming as bright as it had that night; anything that Filch had done to try and remove the words had failed miserably.

"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron observed quietly, nodding towards a single chair that was sitting underneath the words on the wall.

"Can't hurt to have a poke around," Harry said, immediately dropping his bag to the floor and getting down on his hands and knees to look for clues.

"Harry," Lucy complained, picking up his bag and slinging it over her shoulder next to her own, "this is ridiculous."

"Scorch marks!" Harry called out, ignoring Lucy. "Here—and here!"

"Come and look at this!" Hermione called from one of the windows. "This is funny.…"

Lucy followed Harry to the window. There was a group of spiders crowded around a small crack in the glass. It seemed as though they were fighting to get out of the castle.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

"No," Lucy said, confused as to what would cause the creatures to act that way.

"Never," Harry agreed. "Have you, Ron? Ron?"

Lucy glanced behind them to see Ron looking severely frightened and refusing to go anywhere near the window.

"What's up?" Harry asked, also looking at Ron.

"He doesn't like spiders," Lucy answered for him.

"I never knew that," Hermione said. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times—"

"I don't mind them _dead_ ," Ron replied. "I just don't like the way they move.…" Hermione let out a soft giggle at that, and Ron glared at her, saying, "It's not funny. If you must know, when—when I was three, Fred turned my—my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider, all because I broke his toy broomstick.… You wouldn't like them, either, if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs, and—" He stopped talking, a look of horror on his face.

"Remember all that water on the floor?" Harry said, changing the subject. "Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."

"It was about here," Ron said, visibly grateful to be off the topic of spiders, and he walked to a spot a few feet away from Filch's folded up chair. "Level with this door." He went to open the door but stopped short.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"Can't go in there," Ron replied, looking embarrassed. "That's a girls' toilet."

Lucy snorted.

"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," Hermione told him, joining him in front of the door. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look." She opened the door and disappeared inside.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. Then Harry shrugged and followed Hermione. Lucy went next, grabbing Ron's arm and pulling him into the room behind her.

Hermione walked down the row of stalls before stopping at the last one and peeking inside. "Hello, Myrtle. How are you?" she greeted.

Lucy continued to pull Ron along with her. When she reached Harry, she handed over his bag and then grabbed his arm, as well. She led them over to Hermione.

Moaning Myrtle was in the stall, floating above her toilet. "This is a _girls'_ bathroom," she said when she saw Harry and Ron. " _They're_ not girls."

"No," Hermione said. "I just wanted to show them how—er—nice it is in here."

"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry muttered urgently to Lucy.

"What are you whispering?" Myrtle asked at once, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Nothing," Harry replied, startled. "We wanted to ask—"

"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" Myrtle burst out, interrupting him. "I _do_ have feelings, you know, even if I _am_ dead!"

"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," Hermione said, trying to calm the ghost down. "Harry only—"

"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" Myrtle screeched hysterically. "My life was nothing but misery at this place, and now people come along ruining my death!"

"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately," Lucy said, growing impatient with the ghost's theatrics. "There was a cat attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."

"Did you see anyone near here that night?" Harry added.

"I wasn't paying attention," Myrtle said. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to _kill_ myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm—that I'm—"

"Already dead," Ron finished for her.

Myrtle let out a wail and dived into the toilet, spraying water all over the place.

"Great," Lucy grumbled. "Not only are we soaking wet with _toilet water_ , Ron chased her away. Good one."

"I didn't mean to," Ron muttered, annoyed.

"To be honest, though, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle," Hermione said. "Come on; let's go."

They left the bathroom, Harry closing the door behind them.

"RON!" they heard a voice shout from down the hall. Percy was staring at them in disbelief. "That's a _girls'_ bathroom! What were _you_ —?"

"Just having a look around," Ron replied casually. "Clues, you know."

"Get—away—from—there!" Percy hissed, struggling to keep his composure. "Don't you _care_ what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner?"

"Why shouldn't we be here?" Ron said. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny," Percy replied, "but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled. I've never seen her so upset! She's been crying her eyes out—you might think of _her_. All the first-years are thoroughly overexcited by this business."

" _You_ don't care about Ginny," Ron retorted. " _You're_ just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy!"

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy snapped. "I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more _detective work_ , or I'll write to Mum!" He turned and marched off with a huff, leaving Ron seething behind.

"You shouldn't have said that, Ron," Lucy scolded. "Percy's right; it looks really suspicious for us to be snooping around here while everyone else is eating. Let's go. I'm starving."

Ron scowled but followed Lucy, Harry, and Hermione away from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Later that night, the four of them were grouped in the common room, working on Charms homework. Ron was becoming increasingly upset, and he finally gave up on his work when he set his parchment on fire with his malfunctioning wand. He shoved his book aside, grumbling to himself.

Hermione closed her book a few seconds later and asked in a low voice, "Who can it _be,_ though? Who'd _want_ to frighten all the Squibs and Muggleborns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," Ron said. "Who do we know who thinks Muggleborns are scum?" He looked at Hermione as though the answer was obvious.

Hermione, sounding doubtful, started, "If you're talking about Malfoy—"

"Of course I am!" Ron said. "You heard him— _You'll be next, Mudbloods!_ Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him—"

"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione said, still not convinced.

"Well, look at his family," Harry replied, pushing his book away from him and sitting up straighter. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" Ron exclaimed. "Handing it down, father to son—"

"I'm sure there are a few kids in Slytherin whose whole family have been in that house," Lucy pointed out.

Hermione shrugged. "I suppose it's possible that it's Malfoy," she said slowly.

"How do we prove it?" Harry asked.

"There might be a way," Hermione replied. "Of course, it would be difficult. Not to mention dangerous— _very_ dangerous. And we'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect—"

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" Ron butted in.

"All right," Hermione said, glaring at him. "What we'd need to do is get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"That's impossible, isn't it?" Harry said as Ron snorted.

"No, it's not," Hermione said. "All we'd need is some Polyjuice Potion."

"What's that?" Ron and Harry asked at the same time.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago," Hermione told them.

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" Ron said darkly.

"It transforms you into somebody else," Hermione explained. "Think about it! We could change into four of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us, and then we could convince Malfoy to tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him."

"No, no, no," Lucy groaned, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "We could just ask Jeremy and Daphne to do some poking around their common room for us."

"They're not exactly best mates with Malfoy, though, are they?" Harry pointed out.

"Well, it would be worth a try before doing something that could get us expelled," Lucy replied.

"Lucy," Hermione started carefully, "I know that they're your friends—"

" _Our_ friends?" Lucy corrected her. "Or do you not consider them your friends, too?"

"The point is," Hermione continued, looking uncomfortable, "we don't know if we can fully trust them. We can't go telling them that we want information on Malfoy, because what if they just tell him what we're up to?"

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me, though," Ron said. "What if we were stuck looking like four of the Slytherins forever?"

"It wears off after a while," Hermione replied, waving him off. "More importantly, if we decide to do this, it has to be a secret between the four of us."

Lucy rolled her eyes. " _I_ trust them," she insisted. "Not to mention that if they spied on Malfoy for us, we wouldn't have to break all these rules."

"What if someone overhears them talking about it?" Hermione persisted. "I'm just trying to make sure we don't get caught. I know they're nice, but it would just be easier this way to keep it between the four of us."

Lucy clenched her back teeth for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine, we won't tell them," she gave in, "but I'm still against it."

Hermione smiled sadly at her and continued, "Getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called _Moste Potente Potions_ , and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," Ron said, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

"I think that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the _theory_ , we might stand a chance," Hermione said.

"Oh, come on. No teacher's going to fall for that," Ron replied. "They'd have to be really thick.…"

He exchanged a look with Lucy, and she knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"Lockhart," they said at the same time.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: (More Ron brushing off Ginny's feelings hint hint nudge nudge.)**_

 _ **I added in the tiniest inkling that Ron might already be starting to fancy Hermione this early, because I think that he probably did in that young boy type of way.**_

 _ **A very important theme in this story is the idea that "you can't judge a book by its cover" - that nobody should be so quick to judge someone based on what house they were sorted into. As you can see, Hermione, Harry, and Ron still don't fully trust Jeremy, because he's in Slytherin. Hermione tries to mask her distrust at the end of the chapter by trying to make it seem like she's trying to protect them all - that a mission with fewer people involved would be more successful than getting more students involved.**_

 _ **We're halfway through the story now! Whee!**_


	9. 9: Gryffindor Versus Slytherin

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Gryffindor Versus Slytherin**

Hermione was very nervous during their next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Lucy tried to calm her down, but there was no getting through to her. Lucy even offered to ask Lockhart for the signature instead of Hermione doing it, but Hermione immediately shot that idea down.

Meanwhile, Lockhart was telling the story of a werewolf that he had once defeated. He pulled Harry to the front of class to help him with the reenactment. Harry had to play the part of the werewolf, and Ron was trying hard not to laugh at his howling.

"Homework!" Lockhart announced to the class when the bell rang. "Compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of _Magical Me_ to the author of the best one!"

The rest of the class began to leave, but Lucy, Hermione, and Ron waited at the back of the classroom.

"Ready?" Harry asked Hermione, quickly joining in his friends.

Hermione shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. "Wait 'til everyone's gone," she said. "All right.…" Then she led the way to the front of the classroom, where Lockhart was sitting at his desk, and the other three followed.

"Er—Professor Lockhart?" Hermione began, her voice wobbling slightly. "I wanted to—to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading." She held out the slip of paper she'd been holding onto. "The thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it—I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in _Gadding with Ghouls_ about slow-acting venoms—"

"Ah, _Gadding with Ghouls_!" Lockhart exclaimed, beaming. He took the note from Hermione. "Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?"

Lucy inwardly groaned.

"Oh, yes," Hermione replied, sounding a bit more confident. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer!"

"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," Lockhart said, pulling his quill out. It had a very large feather attached to it. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" Lockhart continued, glancing at the other three, who were all staring at it. "I usually save it for book signings." With that, he signed his name and handed the note back to Hermione.

"So, Harry," Lockhart said, turning his attention to Harry. "Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but I preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players.…"

Lucy snorted softly, to which Lockhart added, "Bless you."

"We should probably get going," Hermione cut in quickly. "Thank you, Professor."

They all turned and hurried from the room.

 **~LJ:SD~**

As they walked through the corridors, Harry asked Hermione for the note. She passed it over, and he examined it quickly. "I don't believe it," he said, handing the note back to Hermione. "He didn't even _look_ at the book we wanted."

"That's because he's a brainless _git_ ," Ron replied, and Lucy let out a laugh. "Who cares now, though? We've got what we needed—"

"He is _not_ a brainless git!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding appalled.

Ron retorted, "Just because he said you were the best student of the year—"

"Hermione _is_ the best student in our year," Lucy pointed out.

They reached the library and entered it silently. They found the librarian, Madam Pince, and handed her their note.

" _Moste Potente Potions_?" she read, eyeing them suspiciously. She attempted to take the note, but Hermione wouldn't let go of the paper.

"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said, blushing.

Lucy rolled her eyes, grabbed the note from Hermione's hand, and gave it to Madam Pince. Madam Pince examined the note for a moment before nodding and walking away to the Restricted Section.

"We'll get you another autograph," Ron hissed to Hermione. "Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."

Hermione glared at him.

A few minutes later, Madam Pince returned. She was holding a very large book under her arm. Hermione took it from her and slid it into her bag. Then the four of them left the library, trying very hard not to look guilty.

"Where should we go now?" Harry asked as they exited the library. "If we go back to the common room, we'll risk being overheard."

"We can go back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Hermione suggested.

"No bloody way," Ron protested. "Percy'll kill me if he sees me anywhere near that place again."

"Oh, come on, Ron," Hermione insisted. "Nobody else will ever be there, especially with that creepy message on the wall."

"We could always get Harry's Invisibility Cloak out for you if it makes you that nervous," Lucy teased.

Ron glared at them but didn't say anything. Hermione took that as her cue to lead them to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Like Hermione had said, there was nobody around to see them enter the girls' bathroom, and she guided the other three inside. She crossed the room to the opposite wall and slid into a sitting position on the stone floor. Lucy, Harry, and Ron gathered around her as she started flipping through the pages of the book.

There was silence for a few minutes, except for the sound of Moaning Myrtle crying in one of the stalls.

"Here it is," Hermione said at last, stopping on a page. She laid it out on the ground in front of her, and the other three leaned their heads in to look at the instructions for the potion.

"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," Hermione commented. She ran her finger down the list of ingredients. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass.… Well, they're easy enough; they're in the student store cupboard. We can help ourselves. Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn—don't know where we're going to get that. Shredded skin of a boomslang… that'll be tricky, too. And, of course, a bit of whoever we're changing into."

"Excuse me?" Ron said, a look of alarm on his face. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking _nothing_ with Crabbe's toenails in it!"

"We don't have to worry about that yet," Hermione brushed off, not looking at Ron. "We add those bits last."

"D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Shredded skin of a boomslang? That's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do? Break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea—"

"Well, if you want to chicken out, fine," Hermione snapped, flipping the potion book shut. " _I_ don't want to break rules, you know. _I_ think threatening Muggleborns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, then I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in!"

There was a moment of silence.

"I never thought I'd see the day when _you'd_ be persuading us to break rules," Ron said. "All right, we'll do it. Just no toenails, okay?"

"You won't have to drink toenails. Stop worrying about it," Lucy said, chuckling.

"How long will it take to make, anyway?" Harry asked.

Hermione, looking pleased, opened the book back up to the potion's page. She surveyed the instructions quickly. "Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon, and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days… I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients," she replied.

"A _month?"_ Ron asked incredulously. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggleborns in the school by then!" Hermione rounded on him, her eyes narrowing, and he quickly added, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."

Hermione nodded, grinning at her friends before gathering up the book in her arms and standing up again.

"I'm telling you, there's probably a better way to find out if it's Malfoy," Lucy told them. Ron gave her a look, and she continued, "I said I'd go along with this, but I never said that I'd be quiet about it."

"Come on, Lucy. Let's check if the coast is clear so Ron doesn't get in trouble," Hermione said.

Lucy sighed but followed Hermione out of the bathroom to check if the corridor was empty so the boys wouldn't get caught in the girls' room.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next day was Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of the year. Lucy and Hermione got up at about the same time. Parvati, Lavender, and Sally-Anne were awake, as well, and all five girls were trying to figure out what to wear for the first game.

Lucy took a quick shower to wash her hair. Then she got dressed, pulling on some plain blue jeans and one of her long-sleeved Gryffindor shirts. After that, she exited the bathroom and rejoined her dorm mates.

"Okay, Lucy, I really need an opinion," Parvati said, hurrying up to Lucy. She held up two pairs of earrings. "Should I wear the lion earrings or the ruby earrings?"

Lucy contemplated for a moment. "Definitely the lion ones," she decided.

"Ha!" Parvati exclaimed, grinning. "That's what I was going to wear, but Lavender said the ruby ones would be prettier."

"Maybe, but they're a bit formal, aren't they?" Lucy said, shrugging.

Parvati thanked her and went back over to her dressing area to put her earrings in.

"Looks like it might rain later," Sally-Anne announced, pulling a Gryffindor sweater over her head.

"What?" Lavender screeched. "I just did my hair!"

Lucy and Hermione exchanged amused looks as the girl fretted over what to do so her hair wouldn't get wet.

"The stands are covered," Parvati reminded her friend. "You'll be okay during the match. Just bring an umbrella with you."

Lavender huffed in annoyance but nodded.

"Speaking of hair," Hermione said to Lucy in a quiet voice, "what are you going to do with yours?"

Lucy giggled. Anyone else would think that Hermione didn't care about how she looked, but Lucy knew that she cared a little bit. "I'm going to wear my Gryffindor beanie," Lucy replied, "so I was thinking braided pigtails." She quickly separated her hair and braided her hair into two pigtails.

Hermione decided to wear her Gryffindor beanie, as well.

The girls were almost ready when Lucy asked, "To scarf or not to scarf… that is the question." The other four turned to look at her, and she insisted, "What? This is a vital decision!"

Hermione chuckled.

"Scarf," Sally-Anne replied. "Definitely scarf."

So, Lucy pulled her scarf around her neck. The last thing she grabbed was her Gryffindor rain jacket, and with that, all five girls were ready to go downstairs for breakfast.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The Great Hall was a giant mix of red and green. The Slytherin team members were talking loudly from their table, all smiles and excitement, while the Gryffindor team was huddled together, not saying much at all.

"Lucy!" a voice called out at she entered the hall.

Lavender, Parvati, Sally-Anne, and Hermione continued to the Gryffindor table, and Lucy turned to see Jeremy coming up to her. He had on a sweater with a large Slytherin serpent stitched to the front.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to converse with the enemy today," Lucy teased.

Jeremy rolled his eyes playfully. "I just came to say hi and have you wish Harry good luck for me," he replied.

Loud laughter broke out amongst the Slytherin team, and both Lucy and Jeremy looked at them for a moment.

"I can't believe Malfoy got himself onto the team by having his father buy them all broomsticks," Jeremy said in a low voice. "I mean, that has to be the reason. There were never any Seeker tryouts."

"Really?" Lucy asked, mildly surprised.

"Not that I know of," Jeremy said. "I _do_ know that Malfoy and his family are friends with the Flint family, but I figured that Flint would care enough about Quidditch to find the best player for the spot."

"Were you planning on trying out?" Lucy questioned curiously.

"No, I'm not interested in playing Seeker," Jeremy answered. "If I were to try out for the team, I'd want to be a Beater, but there wasn't an opening for that position. Besides, I don't really want to play with any of the guys on the team; I sort of grew up with some of them, and they're not the nicest of people."

"What do you mean, you sort of grew up with them?" Lucy asked.

"Our parents are all friends," Jeremy answered with a bitter edge to his voice. "What better way is there to make sure your kid makes friends with all the right people than to force them to spend time together as children?"

Lucy shrugged. Jeremy didn't seem very happy with the direction the conversation was moving, so Lucy changed the subject back to the Quidditch match. "Anyway, it'll be an interesting game, I suppose," she said. "I wonder if Malfoy is any good?"

"I haven't seen him play yet, so I'm not sure," Jeremy said. "I overheard Daley and Whiddon—they're the Beaters—complaining that Malfoy was going to hold them back, but other than that, I haven't heard one way or the other."

Then someone called Jeremy's name, and he and Lucy turned to see Daphne and Mary waving him over.

"I guess you probably won't be standing with us at the game today," Lucy said.

"No, I'll be in the Slytherin section," Jeremy said. "Not because there's anything wrong with you, obviously, but I'm sure the other Gryffindors wouldn't appreciate me being around."

Lucy shrugged but nodded. "Well, maybe I'll see you after the match then?" she suggested.

"Maybe," Jeremy replied. "Depends on how it all ends."

The two laughed before parting ways to their own tables.

The Gryffindor team was sitting apart from the rest of the house. Anyone who looked like they were going to try and sit near them was glared at by Oliver. Lucy waved at the Weasley twins as she passed, and they both lifted their hands in response but didn't say anything. Lucy ended up joining the rest of her second-year classmates nearby.

"So, how's your little Slytherin boyfriend?" Seamus asked, smirking slightly as Lucy filled her plate with breakfast.

"He's not my boyfriend," she shot back. "He's just a friend." Sally-Anne, Parvati, Lavender, and Dean all snorted into their eggs, and Lucy, looking around at all of them, added, "What?"

"You guys just look awfully cozy together, that's all," Parvati said in an even voice. "We're just teasing you."

Lucy rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at them. Then, glancing towards the doors of the Great Hall, she noticed Colin Creevey come in with his camera in hand.

"I'll be right back," she said, hurrying to get up. She rushed down the hall to intercept the first-year. "Hi, Colin," she greeted.

"Hi, Lucy," Colin replied cheerfully. "Do you think the team would let me take a picture of them before the match?"

"You know, Colin, I don't think they would," Lucy said, trying to be as nice as possible. "Oliver is practically shooting hexes with his eyes this morning. Why don't you come sit with us for now? You can get plenty of good shots at the match."

Colin looked dejected but agreed. He followed Lucy back down the table to where she'd left her friends.

"Budge up a bit, Neville," she requested, letting Colin sit down first. "Do you all know Colin?"

The other second-years greeted the younger student, who looked quite content to be in their company.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A little while later, students began to leave the Great Hall to go down to the Quidditch pitch. The Slytherin team left before the Gryffindors, some of them sending rude hand gestures across the hall as they left. Many of the Slytherin students followed their team out. Other students also began to trail out of the hall, although the Gryffindor team didn't move.

"Come on—let's get going," Dean and Seamus were complaining a few minutes later.

The two of them hopped up and left the hall with Parvati, Lavender, and a few third-years that had been sitting near them.

Lucy, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Colin all followed suit after Ron had the chance to finish his third pastry. As they were standing up, the Gryffindor team also stood and made their way out of the hall. This caused most of the remaining Gryffindors to hurry after their team. Lucy led her friends out of the hall, as well.

Thankfully, it wasn't raining when they stepped outside, but it seemed like a storm was brewing. When they came to the Quidditch pitch, they hurried over to the Gryffindor locker rooms. The team had reached the locker room, too, and they were just entering it when Lucy and her friends caught up to them.

"Good luck, Harry!" Lucy and Hermione called.

Harry paused and gave them a tight-lipped smile that didn't seem very happy at all.

"Come on; let's find some good seats," Neville said.

The students hurried up into the stands to find their fellow Gryffindors. As they settled into the crowd, a thought occurred to Lucy. She leaned across Colin to speak to Ron.

"Did you see Ginny at breakfast at all?" she asked.

"No," Ron replied. "I guess I wasn't looking for her."

"I hope she doesn't miss Gryffindor's first match!" Lucy exclaimed before leaning back in her seat.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year!" the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan announced. He was commentating the games again this year, sitting up in the box with Professor McGonagall, who would be keeping a close eye on him. Lee held up his megaphone and continued, "Today's game is Gryffindor versus Slytherin!"

Loud roars rose up from the stands. Lucy and her friends cheered, as well. Although the weather seemed gloomy, the excitement for the match warmed Lucy right up.

"Here come the Slytherins! Flint, Pucey, Montague, Daley, Whiddon, Bletchley, and Malfoy," Lee read out as the Slytherin team exited their locker room.

There was a roar from the sea of green in the stands across the field, and people around Lucy started booing.

"Next, the Gryffindors!" Lee continued. The boos turned to cheers as the Gryffindor team marched onto the pitch. "Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, Wood, and Potter!"

The two teams met at midfield, where Madam Hooch talked to them briefly. Then she released the balls and blew her whistle; the match was on.

The cheers were practically deafening. Slytherin took an early lead, seemingly outflying the Gryffindor team on their superb new brooms. The game had hardly started when the rain began, as well.

"Slytherin leads, sixty points to zero," Lee called out from the commentating box.

Lucy looked around for Harry, hoping he'd find the Snitch soon. When she found him, she saw him practically being flanked by Fred and George, who were repeatedly knocking a single Bludger away from their Seeker. The Bludger kept changing its course to fly back towards Harry.

"Lucy, that black ball keeps flying at Harry," Colin commented.

"That's a Bludger," Lucy told him. "It's not supposed to do that. What's going on with that Bludger?" she added to Ron.

"Which Bludger?" Ron asked.

Lucy pointed towards Harry. "The one that keeps trying to knock Harry's head off, no matter how many times Fred or George bat it away from him," she replied.

Ron watched it for a moment before nudging Hermione and pointing it out to her.

Suddenly, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, signaling a Gryffindor time out. The Gryffindors flew to the ground and huddled together for a few minutes. The Slytherin students started chanting, and the Gryffindors around Lucy were mostly quiet.

Madam Hooch called for play to resume as the rain started to pound down harder on the players. Lucy zeroed in on Harry, watching as he dipped and dived all over the pitch to try and shake the Bludger.

"C'mon, Harry," she murmured.

Then things happened very suddenly: Harry had flown past Malfoy and then halted in mid-air, staring back at the Slytherin Seeker. Next, the Bludger had finally caught up to Harry and smashed into his arm. There were multiple screams, and Lucy grabbed Neville's sleeve.

A second later, Harry was whooshing straight towards Malfoy, who awkwardly dodged out of Harry's path. Harry let go of his broom with his good hand, reached out in front of him, and then held his fist high in the air. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and the Gryffindors all started screaming and stomping in the stands. Harry had caught the Snitch! They had won!

Harry flew straight to the ground and landed hard in the mud.

"Move! _Move_!" Lucy shouted, pushing through people in the stands to try and get onto the field. As soon as she reached the pitch, she sprinted across the grass to join the small group crowding around Harry.

"He's all right," Madam Hooch said as Lucy tried to get closer. "He's just passed out from when the Bludger broke his arm. Give him some room until he comes 'round—"

"Let me through! Let me through!" Professor Lockhart was striding towards them. "Please, I can fix him in a minute. Let me through." Soon he was kneeling on the ground next to Harry as more Gryffindor students joined the crowd, pressing in to see what the matter was.

"Oh, no, not you," Harry moaned, his eyes blinking open.

"Doesn't know what he's saying," Lockhart assured the crowd. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."

" _No_!" Harry exclaimed. "I'll keep it like this, thanks." He winced in pain as he struggled to sit up. There was a series of clicking noises, and he added loudly, "I don't want a photo of this, Colin."

Lucy spotted the first-year immediately, put her hand on top of his camera, and pushed it down.

"Lie back, Harry," Lockhart insisted. "It's a simple charm that I've used countless times."

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Harry asked.

"He really should, Professor," Oliver said, stepping in. "Great capture, Harry—really spectacular—your best yet, I'd say—"

"Stand back," Lockhart announced, pulling out his wand.

"No…" Harry muttered. "Don't…"

Lockhart, not listening to Harry, waved his wand and pointed it down at Harry's arm. Harry had shut his eyes and turned his head away.

Lucy covered her mouth with her hand. Lockhart hadn't mended the break at all; instead, he had completely removed all the bones from Harry's arm. There were several gasps from the people nearest, and Colin took a few pictures again before Lucy grabbed his camera and told him, "Enough, Colin."

"Ah," Lockhart said, looking at what was left of Harry's arm. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. The point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing—ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Jones, would you escort him?—and Madam Pomfrey will be able to—er—tidy you up a bit."

Lucy, Ron, and Hermione stepped forward as Harry got shakily to his feet. When he was standing, he finally looked down at his arm. He swayed dangerously, and Ron grabbed him by the shoulders.

"C'mon, mate. This way," he said as he guided Harry towards the exit of the pitch.

Gryffindors were still crowded around them, so they were moving very slowly. Lucy was quickly losing her temper.

"EVERYBODY MOVE!" she finally yelled, and most everyone jumped and then did as she said. "Merlin!" she growled darkly as she, Hermione, and Ron led Harry through the crowd.

"Lucy, it's all right," Hermione said, putting a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "We'll get him there."

Lucy looked back at Harry. "You okay, Harry?" she asked as they finally made it off the Quidditch pitch.

"Just please get me to the hospital wing," he replied weakly.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Madam Pomfrey was quite unhappy after they had explained what happened. She was holding Harry's boneless arm, examining it. "You should have come straight to me!" she said.

"We tried to bring him here, but Professor Lockhart insisted on _helping_ ," Lucy said darkly.

Madam Pomfrey huffed in annoyance. "He may be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I'm still in charge of the hospital here," she mumbled. "I can mend bones in a second—but growing them back—"

"You will be able to, won't you?" Harry asked, his eyes widening.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," Madam Pomfrey replied. She went to one end of the ward and retrieved some pajamas. She tossed them at Harry and added, "You'll have to stay the night."

She beckoned the girls away from the boys, pulled her wand out, and conjured curtains to hang around Harry's bed. She then hurried off, leaving Lucy and Hermione to wait for Ron to help Harry get his pajamas on.

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Ron said through the curtain. "If Harry had wanted deboning, he would have asked."

"Anyone can make a mistake," Hermione replied, her cheeks turning pink. "Besides, it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

"No," Harry replied, "but it doesn't do anything else, either."

"Don't start an argument right now," Lucy sighed.

"Are you finished in there?" Madam Pomfrey asked, bustling back towards them with a bottle of Skele-Gro in her hand.

"Yes," Ron and Harry replied.

Madam Pomfrey walked around the curtain with Lucy and Hermione following. Harry was now dressed in the pajamas and sitting in bed.

"You're in for a rough night," Madam Pomfrey informed Harry, pouring some of the potion from the Skele-Gro bottle into a cup on the bedside table. She handed the cup to him. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

Harry took a swig, coughing violently as he attempted to swallow.

"Make sure he drinks some water," Madam Pomfrey said to the other three. "I'll be in my office." Then she turned and strode off, muttering darkly about Quidditch.

"We won, though," Ron said after Harry had gotten down all the Skele-Gro and then some water. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face—he looked ready to kill!"

"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," Hermione replied.

"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," Harry replied.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Look, we don't know if the Bludger was Malfoy's fault any more than we know if he's the Heir of Slytherin or not," she said. "Remember last year when we were convinced that Snape was trying to kill Harry? This is turning into exactly that."

"Well, if Malfoy didn't do it, who did?" Ron asked.

"Someone a lot smarter?" Lucy replied, sniggering.

Harry gulped down some more water. "I hope the Polyjuice Potion tastes better than this stuff," he said, his face still a bit twisted in disgust.

"If it's got bits of Slytherin in it? You've got to be joking," Ron said.

Then the doors were flung open. The Gryffindor Quidditch team marched inside, all grinning widely despite being wet and muddy.

"Unbelievable flying, Harry," George said as they grouped around Harry's bed. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."

"Would you be happy if you were in Malfoy's place right now?" Lucy asked, grinning.

George smiled back before putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a squeeze.

"Ew, you're all dirty!" Lucy squealed, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

The Gryffindor team were just pulling out some candy and a bottle of pumpkin juice, ready to accompany Harry for a while, but Madam Pomfrey came storming towards them.

"This boy needs his rest! He's got thirty-three bones to regrow!" she exclaimed. "Out!" They all got up slowly, grumbling, and Madam Pomfrey added harshly, " _OUT_!"

They quickly filed out, apologizing to Harry and wishing him luck.

 **~LJ:SD~**

"I wish she would've let us stay a bit longer," Lucy said as she walked through the corridors with both her arms linked with the Weasley twins'.

"Well, there's going to be a party in the dormitory tonight. Don't you worry," Fred reassured her. "It's too bad that Harry can't be there, but the rest of us can have some fun."

"We'll give him a toast and everything," George added.

Up ahead, Ron and Hermione had begun bickering about Lockhart again.

"Stop arguing, you two," Lucy called up to them. "Yes, Lockhart removed all the bones in Harry's arm, but at least that Bludger didn't get him in the head or anything like that."

Ron and Hermione glowered at each other for a moment but stopped arguing.

"C'mon," George said. "Let's go have a party."

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: The scene where Lucy, Hermione, Sally-Anne, Parvati, and Lavender all get ready for the Quidditch match together is mostly just to show that they're growing up and starting to care a bit more about their appearances. I just wanted to show some of those pre-teen/teenage cusp concerns.**_

 _ **The conversation that Lucy has with Jeremy before the match is also important, because it hints at something about Jeremy that comes up again later (about his past).**_

 _ **Lucy's and Colin's friendship is something that doesn't get brought up too much after this story, but it is important for later on (story seven, specifically).**_


	10. 10: Learning to Duel

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Learning to Duel**

Lucy and Hermione were awake early the next morning. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to see Harry in the hospital wing until later—if Madam Pomfrey didn't discharge him, that was—they decided to go down to the common room. Once there, they were surprised to see Ron already awake and dressed, and the three of them went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

On the way downstairs, they happened by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick standing in one of the corridors, talking in low voices together. Staying carefully out of sight, the three Gryffindors got as close as they could to overhear what the teachers were talking about.

"There was another attack last night," Professor McGonagall was whispering urgently. "It was a first-year from my house: Colin Creevey."

Lucy gasped.

"What are we going to tell the students?" Professor Flitwick asked. "Does Dumbledore have any idea why this is happening?"

"I'm not sure," Professor McGonagall admitted. "If he does, he hasn't mentioned it to me yet. For now, I suppose we'll just have to continue on as normal."

Lucy, Ron, and Hermione chose then to walk away before either professor noticed them. They hurried down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table, leaving a large gap between them and the only other group eating there.

"Poor Colin," Lucy said as they sat. "I mean, I know the Heir of Slytherin wants to get rid of all the Muggleborns, but he's just a first-year."

"We need to get to work on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron said. "If it _is_ Malfoy, we need to get a confession out of him as soon as we can."

"We don't have all the ingredients yet," Hermione said, sounding doubtful.

"Hermione, for all we know, you could be next," Lucy said, trying to be gentle.

"It's going to take a month as it is," Ron added. "I say we go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and start today, right after breakfast."

"Well, we'll need to go to the student cupboard and get a spare cauldron and some ingredients," Hermione said, pulling a folded piece of parchment from a pocket in her robes. She smoothed it out across the table. "We need knotgrass, leeches, and lacewings first, all of which are in the cupboard, too."

"What about Harry?" Lucy asked.

Ron and Hermione both shrugged. "We can always meet up with him later," Ron said. "I'm sure he won't mind that we're starting without him."

 **~LJ:SD~**

As soon as they were done with breakfast, they went down to the potion ingredient cupboard in the dungeons. Luckily, they never saw Snape or anyone else who might wonder what they were up to. Then they went up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to begin the potion.

"Where are we going to set this up?" Lucy asked Hermione.

Hermione looked around before opening a stall door and saying, "It'd probably be safest in here." She went inside and pulled out her wand. Then she conjured a small blue flame inside the toilet before setting the cauldron on top. "C'mon," she said, beckoning Lucy and Ron inside. "Shut the door behind you."

 **~LJ:SD~**

They had been working for nearly an hour when they heard the bathroom door open. Lucy grabbed both Ron's and Hermione's arms, and the three of them became silent.

"It's me," the person said from the other side of the stall.

Hermione gasped loudly and dropped her ladle into the cauldron.

"Harry!" Lucy said gleefully. She opened the door and threw her arms around her friend.

"You gave us such a fright!" Hermione said. "Come in. How's your arm?"

"Fine," Harry replied as Lucy pulled him into the stall with her. He locked the door behind him.

"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron said. "We figured this was the safest place to hide it."

"Sounds fine to me," Harry said. "I have stuff to tell you three, though. Last night, Colin Creevey was attacked."

"We already know," Hermione cut in. "We heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going."

"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," Ron continued. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"There's something else," Harry said. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

"Dobby came here? To Hogwarts?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening.

She, Ron, and Hermione listened closely as Harry told them about what Dobby had said.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened _before_?" Hermione asked in disbelief when Harry had finished.

"That settles it," Ron said. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the chamber when he was at school here, and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious! Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," Lucy suggested, shrugging.

"Or maybe it can disguise itself," Hermione added. "Pretend to be a suit of armor or something—I've read about Chameleon Ghouls."

"You read too much, Hermione," Ron said, pouring a bag of lacewings into the potion. Then, looking at Harry, he continued, "So, Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm.… You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life, he's going to kill you."

Lucy and Harry let out snorts of laughter at this thought.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Although everyone in the school seemed to be on edge, there were no other attacks going into December. When Professor McGonagall came around the Gryffindor table one morning during breakfast to collect names of the students who wanted to stay over Christmas, most of the Gryffindors signed up to leave. Nobody wanted to risk getting attacked over the holidays. Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, all signed up to stay at Hogwarts.

"If we can get the rest of the ingredients, we should be able to use the potion over the break," Hermione explained. "Since Malfoy is staying, it would be a great opportunity to question him."

"How many ingredients do we still need?" Lucy asked.

"Just two—bicorn horn and the boomslang skin," Hermione answered. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to get them from Snape's private stores. What we'll need is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need."

Ron and Harry exchanged a glance.

"Cause a diversion in Snape's class?" Lucy said with a hollow laugh. "Yeah, _that'll_ be enjoyable."

"I think I'd better do the actual stealing," Hermione continued. She looked pointedly at Ron and Harry. " _You_ two will get expelled if you get into any more trouble, and I've got a clean record. So, all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so."

"Causing mayhem in Snape's class might get us expelled in a heartbeat," Harry pointed out flatly.

Hermione shrugged. "Then don't get caught," she finished. "Just have a plan ready for class tomorrow."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next day, the four of them made their way down to the dungeons for Potions class.

Lucy handed Harry a firework that she had gotten from George. "You've got one shot, so don't miss," she warned him.

Harry pocketed it as he replied, "I'll try not to, although I still don't know why it has to be me who throws it."

"You drew the shortest straw!" Ron replied.

As they entered the dungeon, Jeremy came up to Lucy, grinning. "Good afternoon," he said.

Lucy smiled back. "Hello," she replied. "Mind if I sit next to you today?"

"Not at all," Jeremy said.

They sat down at the table next to Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

"So, are you going home for the holidays?" Lucy asked as they prepared for class to start.

"Not this year," Jeremy replied. "My parents are visiting family in France, and I wasn't too keen on seeing them. I mean, I just spent all last summer with them. How about you?"

"I'm staying, too," Lucy said. "Keeping the Weasleys and Harry company and all that."

"Sounds fun," Jeremy said. "Maybe we can hang out at some point?"

"Yeah, that would be cool," Lucy replied.

Snape entered the dungeon, and silence fell immediately. "Today we will be working on Swelling Solutions," the professor announced. "You will have the entire class period to work on it. The instructions are on page 146 of your books. This will be an individual potion; no partners. Begin."

There was a clamoring as students opened their books and started to collect the necessary ingredients.

 **~LJ:SD~**

It wasn't until about an hour and a half later, when they were all nearly finished with their potions, when commotion started. All of a sudden, the potion in Goyle's cauldron exploded and sprayed all over the room. Lucy shrieked and ducked under the table as the potion landed on many of the Slytherin students across the room. Some Gryffindors got hit, as well. Everyone who had been sprayed started swelling where the potion had splashed them.

"What the hell was that?" Jeremy asked, also ducking under the table. "Lucy, your ear.…"

Lucy's head felt heavy on the left side. "Oh, no, is my ear swelling?" she complained.

Jeremy nodded, looking at her sympathetically. Lucy sighed in annoyance as she and Jeremy got up from under the table. He hadn't been hit at all.

"Silence!" Snape was shouting. "SILENCE! Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught—when I find out who did this…"

Lucy filed to the front of the room to get some Deflating Draught, thankful that Goyle had managed to get his potion mostly right and hadn't killed anyone. She quickly accepted the antidote from Snape, who was looking murderous.

After everyone with swelling body parts had taken the antidote, Snape walked over to Goyle's cauldron and looked into it. He finished out something and held it up for the class to see. It was the firework that Lucy had given Harry earlier. Everyone was silent.

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape started slowly, sounding very angry, "I shall _make sure_ that person is expelled." He surveyed the room, looking extra suspiciously at the Gryffindors, before adding, "Everyone clean up. Turn in a vial of potion, and I'll be around to Vanish the rest."

When the bell rang, Lucy said good-bye to Jeremy and joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione exiting the room.

"He knew it was me," Harry said in a low voice. "I could tell."

"Snape can't prove it was you," Ron told Harry reassuringly. "Besides, what can he do?"

"Knowing Snape, something foul," Harry replied.

"Did you get everything you needed, Hermione?" Ron asked, and Hermione nodded gleefully.

"You just had to explode a potion, didn't you?" Lucy said to Harry. "I got hit with it. You should be extremely thankful that Goyle's potion was correct and didn't kill any of us that got splashed."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, "but we got the ingredients we needed, right?"

Lucy rolled her eyes.

When they reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Hermione immediately put the new ingredients into the cauldron and stirred it up. "It'll be ready in two weeks," she informed them, smiling.

"Just in time for Christmas," Lucy quipped.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next week, a notice went up that had the school buzzing. Lucy was going down to dinner with Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they saw a group of students gathered around the notice board just outside the Great Hall. Amongst them was Seamus and Dean, who waved their four classmates over.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" Seamus told them, grinning from ear to ear. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days."

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" Ron asked, sounding interested. He, Lucy, Harry, and Hermione looked over the new sign for a minute before continuing into the Great Hall. "Could be useful," Ron commented. "Shall we go?"

The other three agreed.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A few hours later, Lucy and her friends joined a large crowd of students down in the Great Hall. The long tables had been moved, and there was now a stage against one of the walls.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione said as they took their place in the crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young—maybe it'll be him."

Harry began, "As long as it's not—" He groaned before he could finish his sentence.

Onto the stage walked Lockhart, followed by Snape. Lucy thought that they were an odd pair to be working together.

Lockhart waved out at the students, calling for their attention. "Gather round! Gather round!" he announced. "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!" He beamed out at the crowd of students.

Hermione hurried forward along with many of the other female students.

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club," Lockhart explained, "to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published works." He let out a chuckle and paused, looking around at the sea of students.

When nobody said anything, he continued, "Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape."

Snape walked out onto the stage, a sour look on his face. He folded his arms over his chest and remained silent.

"He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself," Lockhart went on, "and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry—you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him—never fear!"

Lockhart turned towards Snape. They bowed to each other and then held their wands in front of themselves.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart said. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course. One—two—three!"

" _Expelliarmus!_ " Snape shouted, pointing his wand at Lockhart.

Lockhart was knocked off his feet and into the wall behind him. He fell into a heap on the floor. Hermione and many of the other girls were tittering nervously, while a group of Slytherins cheered for Snape's success.

"Do you think he's all right?" Hermione asked, looking quite distraught.

"Who cares?" Harry and Ron both replied, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

Lockhart slowly rose to his feet, looking jarred. "Well, there you have it!" he said as he shakily got back onto the stage. "That was a Disarming Charm—as you see, I've lost my wand—ah, thank you, Miss Brown—yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have been only too easy—however, I felt it would be more instructive to let them see…" He trailed off.

Lucy scoffed. "Yeah, right," she muttered.

After a few seconds of silence from Snape, Lockhart called, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me?"

As they began pairing students up, Lucy felt someone tug on her robes. She turned to see Jeremy standing beside her. He smiled, and she returned it. Before either one of them could say anything, however, Lockhart had reached them.

"Mr. Longbottom with Mr. Finch-Fletchley," Lockhart announced, pointing at the two boys. "Miss Jones, you can work with Mr. Whitlock there, good.…" He moved on, and Lucy turned to see what had happened with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Unfortunately, Snape had reached the other three before Lockhart had. Snape immediately sent Ron to work with Seamus, paired Harry up with Malfoy, and Hermione ended up with a Slytherin girl. Lucy turned back to Jeremy, feeling lucky that Lockhart had picked her partner.

"Ready?" Jeremy asked.

"Only if you are," Lucy replied, grinning.

Lockhart had made his way back to the stage and was waving his arms for attention once again. "Face your partners," he said, "and bow!"

Jeremy bowed to Lucy with an exaggerated flourish, and Lucy curtsied back to him.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart continued. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents— _only_ to disarm them—we don't want any accidents. One… two… three!"

" _Expelliarmus_!" Lucy and Jeremy exclaimed, pointing their wands at each other.

Jeremy's spell was slightly ahead of Lucy's, and it hit her hard, causing her to trip over. Her wand flew out of her hand as she landed in a sitting position on the floor. She blinked a few times and then let out a breathless laugh.

"Lucy, are you all right?" Jeremy asked, hurrying over. He had her wand in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucy said. "I was just a bit shocked is all. That was a good spell, though!" She grinned reassuringly at him, and then she took her wand back from him.

Jeremy held out his hand, and Lucy grabbed it, pulling herself to her feet. "You just barely missed me," Jeremy informed her. "I could feel it going right past my head."

They both looked around at the chaos of the dueling students.

" _I said disarm only_!" Lockhart cried above the noise in the hall. "Stop! Stop!"

Nobody was listening to him.

" _Finite Incantatem_!" Snape bellowed, stepping forward on the stage.

Almost everyone stopped, except for Hermione and the Slytherin girl. The girl had Hermione in a headlock, both of their wands on the floor. Lucy and Harry quickly sprung forward and pulled the Slytherin off their friend. The girl turned on them, a menacing look on her face, and Lucy held her wand up defensively.

" _Enough_!" Snape shouted at them.

The girl glared and slumped away from them after retrieving her wand from the floor. Harry picked up Hermione's wand and gave it back to her.

"I think I'd better teach you how to _block_ unfriendly spells," Lockhart said, looking around sheepishly. "Let's have a volunteer pair—Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Lucy rolled her eyes and glanced at Neville, who was blushing in embarrassment.

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape suggested.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart said, looking relieved.

Malfoy and Harry trudged to the stage and joined the two professors.

"Now, Harry," Lockhart began, "when Draco points his wand at you, you do _this_." He waved his wand, and it immediately fell from his fingers. "Whoops—my wand is a little overexcited."

Snape, meanwhile, was whispering something to Malfoy. Lucy watched warily as Malfoy grinned meanly.

"Just do what I did, Harry!" Lockhart said, beaming away. He gestured for Malfoy and Harry to face each other.

"Three—two—one—go!" he said, backing away from them.

" _Serpensortia_!" Malfoy shouted.

Out of his wand burst a long black snake, which rose up immediately, preparing to strike. Everyone quickly moved away from the stage.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said. "I'll get rid of it."

"Allow me!" Lockhart called, stepping in swiftly. He waved his wand, and the snake shot up into the air and landed back on the floor with a smack.

The snake, enraged, began to move towards the nearest person, which happened to be Justin Finch-Fletchley.

Suddenly, Harry was jumping forward at the snake. He opened his mouth and out came a strange hissing and spitting noise. The snake stopped and turned around to face Harry. Harry looked up, smiling, but none of the students were smiling back at him.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin cried, looking as white as a sheet. He turned and fled from the Great Hall while everyone else stayed silent.

As Snape stepped forward to deal with the snake, Lucy turned and caught both Ron's and Hermione's eyes. Then the three of them wordlessly pushed through the crowd to get to Harry. The other students started whispering amongst themselves as Ron reached Harry and pulled on the back of his robes.

"Come on," Ron said to Harry. "Move—come _on_."

Lucy took Harry's arm, and together, she and Ron led him away through the hall. Hermione followed them.

 **~LJ:SD~**

None of them said anything until they made it back to their common room, which was empty.

"You're a Parselmouth," Ron said, depositing Harry into an armchair. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" Harry asked.

"A Parselmouth," Lucy repeated. "You can talk to snakes."

"I know," Harry said, looking bewildered at their reactions. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once—long story—but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil, and I sort of set it free without meaning to—that was before I knew I was a wizard—"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron asked incredulously.

"So?" Harry shot back. "I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Oh, no, they can't," Ron retorted, shaking his head. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is _bad_."

"What's bad?" Harry asked, sounding frustrated. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin—"

"Is that what you said to it?" Lucy asked.

"You were there!" Harry said, looking bemused. "You heard me!"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue," Ron explained. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything—no wonder Justin panicked. You sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was creepy, you know."

"I spoke a different language?" Harry asked in a tone of disbelief. "But—I didn't realize—how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"

Lucy shrugged, and Ron shook his head.

There were a few moments of silence before Harry continued, "D'you want to tell me what's _wrong_ with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head? What does it matter _how_ I did it, as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," Hermione said, finally speaking up, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent."

"Exactly," Ron said. "Now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something."

"But I'm not!" Harry said quite loudly.

"You'll find that hard to prove," Hermione said gently. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

Harry slumped back in his chair, looking dejected.

"Come on," Lucy said after a few minutes. "We should all get some sleep. We still have class tomorrow."

 **~LJ:SD~**

However, the next morning, a blizzard had moved in on the castle, and the Gryffindor second-years' Herbology lesson was cancelled. They instead enjoyed their time off in front of the fireplace in the common room. Ron challenged Hermione to a game of chess, while Lucy watched. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't stop fidgeting and was complaining about their lesson being cancelled.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Lucy asked.

"I need to talk to Justin," Harry replied. "I need to tell him what actually happened, so he knows that I wasn't trying to set the snake on him."

"For heaven's sake, Harry," Hermione spoke up, glaring at the chess board as Ron took another one of her pieces. "Go and _find_ Justin if it's so important to you."

It took a few more minutes, but Harry finally decided to go searching for Justin.

"Be careful," Lucy warned as he got up to leave the common room.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy, Hermione, and Ron didn't see Harry again until lunch, but by then, the news was quickly spreading throughout the school. There had been another attack, this time on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. When Professor McGonagall came to the common room to announce the attack, many students who were originally going to stay at school for the holidays went up to her and asked if they could sign up to go home.

When Lucy, Hermione, and Ron went down to the Great Hall for lunch, they spotted Harry sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. They hurried over to him.

"Harry!" Lucy said as they joined him. "Did you hear—?"

"About Justin and Nick?" Harry finished dully.

Lucy looked at him warily. "What does that tone mean?" she asked.

Harry told the other three about overhearing a group of Hufflepuffs in the library, the argument he'd had with Ernie Macmillan, and then finding Justin and Nick right after they'd been attacked.

"You really have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Lucy commented when Harry had finished his story.

"Professor McGonagall told us about the attack," Hermione told Harry sadly.

"Yeah, and a bunch more people signed up to go home for Christmas," Ron added. "At this rate, we'll be the only ones left. Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."

 **~LJ:SD~**


	11. 11: The Lie

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 11 – The Lie**

At last, the term had ended. A very large majority of the students had boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were some of the only Gryffindors left. The rest of the Weasleys had stayed, as well, along with a handful of older students.

The first few days were very relaxing. There were many games of chess and Exploding Snap played. Hermione spent a lot of time working on the Polyjuice Potion, assuring Lucy, Harry, and Ron that it would be finished very soon.

To Lucy's delight, Jeremy had stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays, as well, and he joined them at the Gryffindor table for every meal. He brought his first-year friend Mary along with him, too, giving Lucy the chance to get to know her better.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Christmas morning found Lucy being shaken awake by Hermione.

"Lucy, wake up," Hermione was insisting. "I've just been to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to finish the potion. It's ready for tonight."

"What a wonderful Christmas present," Lucy replied, yawning.

"Speaking of presents," Hermione added, handing Lucy a package, "happy Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, 'Mione," Lucy said. She looked to the end of her bed to see a few more gifts waiting for her. "Have you opened your presents yet?" she asked, ripping the wrappings from the box that Hermione had handed her.

"Not yet," Hermione said. "I was too anxious about finishing the potion correctly."

Lucy opened the box and found a large eagle-feather quill laying inside. "Wow, Hermione; thank you," she said. "This is really nice."

"You're welcome," Hermione answered, beaming. "I got the boys the same thing. I hope they enjoy theirs, too."

"That one's from me!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing to a box in Hermione's pile.

Hermione opened it immediately, finding a few bags of Muggle candy. "Thank you, Lucy," she said, grinning.

"I remember you saying that you missed having Muggle chocolate," Lucy replied.

The girls opened the rest of their presents. They both received a box of fudge from Hagrid, and Mrs. Weasley had sent them both new sweaters. Lucy's was purple, just like previous year's, and Hermione's was a powder blue. Lucy also got a bunch of candy from both Harry and Ron. Her parents sent her the traditional bag of her favorite Muggle candies and a large, fuzzy, red and gold blanket. Her aunt had given her a book of spells to change hair color and styles; Lucy giggled at it but was still intrigued.

At the bottom of her pile, Lucy found one last present. She looked at the card to see that it was from Jeremy. Inside the small box was charm bracelet. Already hanging from it was a lion and a snake. Lucy smiled and quickly fastened it around her wrist.

"Where'd you get that?" Hermione asked, eyeing the bracelet.

"Jeremy gave it to me," Lucy replied. She held out her arm, so Hermione could look at it.

"A lion and a snake, hm?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "You know, I'm starting to think that boy might fancy you."

"We're friends," Lucy shot back with a frown. Hermione shrugged, smiling slyly, and Lucy insisted, "Seriously, only friends. Besides, we're just kids." She slipped her new sweater over her head and straightened it over her torso.

"Well, let's go and wake up the boys," Hermione said, grabbing a couple of wrapped presents. "I want to tell them that the potion is ready to go for tonight."

Lucy followed Hermione down from their dormitory and back up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Hermione opened the door and marched into the room. "Wake up!" she called, going to the nearest window and opening the curtains.

"Hermione, Lucy," Ron groaned, pulling his blanket up over his head. "You're not supposed to be in here."

"Happy Christmas to you, too," Hermione replied, tossing her present to him onto his bed. She dropped the other present onto Harry's pile, continuing, "I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."

Harry shot up in bed, his eyes wide. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive," Hermione answered, plopping down on the end of Ron's bed. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight."

Hedwig swooped into the room at that moment, flying over to Harry.

"Hello," Harry greeted his owl. "Are you speaking to me again?"

Hedwig bit at his ear before holding her leg out to him. Harry pulled off the envelope and opened it. After reading the letter, he snorted and tossed it carelessly onto the floor.

"Who was that from?" Lucy asked.

"The Dursleys," Harry replied, rolling his eyes. "They want me to find out if I can stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays. Believe me, I'd do it if I could."

"I don't blame you," Lucy said, chuckling, although she felt bad that Harry's home was so uninviting.

"Well, I'm going to go watch over the potion," Hermione said. "I don't want anything to happen to it between now and tonight. We'll talk more later—see you all at dinner." She stood and left the dormitory.

"She's very eager to get this over with," Ron commented, digging into his Christmas presents.

"She's a Muggleborn," Lucy reminded him. "She's got more reason than any of us to be anxious."

 **~LJ:SD~**

Christmas dinner had arrived, and the Great Hall was decorated magnificently. There were a dozen Christmas trees all around the hall, and enchanted snow was falling from the ceiling. Dumbledore had them all singing Christmas tunes as they enjoyed their meal. Jeremy and Mary had joined Lucy at the Gryffindor table once again.

Lucy was having a marvelous time until Jeremy turned to her and asked, "So, what are your plans for tonight?"

Lucy hesitated, knowing that she'd agreed to not tell Jeremy about the Polyjuice Potion. The decision to not tell him had been eating away at her for weeks. She didn't want to have to lie to him, but at the same time, she was glad that after that night, it would be over with.

"We, uh—" Lucy stammered, "we were just going to have a quiet night in. You know, settle our stomachs and whatnot."

"Oh. All right," Jeremy said. "I suppose we'll probably be a bit full to be active."

"Besides, with all this chamber stuff going on, I'm sure the teachers would rather have us in our common rooms," Lucy hurriedly added, feeling a bit relieved.

"Good point," Jeremy replied. "We can maybe hang out tomorrow then. Have a snowball fight?"

"That sounds good to me," Lucy said, relaxing. She looked over at Hermione, who nodded once at her.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After they had their fill of desert, Hermione pulled Lucy, Harry, and Ron away from the feast to go over their final plans for that night.

"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," Hermione began after they had assembled in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She looked at the boys and continued, "Obviously it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's. They're Malfoy's best friends; he'll tell them anything."

"We _assume_ he'll tell them anything," Lucy corrected.

"How are we going to stop the real Crabbe and Goyle from walking into the Slytherin common room while we look like them?" Ron asked, sounding uncertain.

"I've got it all worked out," Hermione answered, picking up two cupcakes from one of the bathroom sinks. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are; they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom cupboard."

Harry started, "Hermione, I don't think—"

Ron said at the same time, "That could go seriously wrong—"

Hermione glared at both of them. "The potion will be _useless_ without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," she snapped. "You do _want_ to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"

"Oh, all right, all right," Harry said, holding his hands up. "What about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"I've already got mine!" Hermione answered, grinning as she held up a small vial. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! She's gone home for Christmas, though—so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back early."

"That might not be the best plan," Lucy said skeptically. "You're going to tell them that Millicent Bulstrode came back early, but then she's going to be gone again once you transform back into yourself."

"I didn't say it was the best plan, but at least it's a plan," Hermione said with a shrug. "You need to decide who you're going to change into, too, you know."

"Oh, no," Lucy replied. "I'm not drinking that stuff."

"What are you going to do then?" Harry asked.

"I'll take your Invisibility Cloak, and I'll stand outside the cupboard that you leave Crabbe and Goyle in," she replied. "You three can meet up with me when you're done in the Slytherin common room."

"That's settled, then," Hermione finished gleefully. "Take the cupcakes with you to Christmas tea tonight, and you can figure out how to get Crabbe and Goyle to find them." She then turned and went back to the potion as the other three left the bathroom for their common room.

"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" Ron muttered.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy found that the rest of the afternoon and Christmas tea came to an end quite quickly. She, Harry, and Ron were soon waiting around in the entrance hall for Crabbe and Goyle to finish their desserts alone in the Great Hall. Harry had perched the cupcakes on the banister of the main staircase, which was in plain view of the doors to the Great Hall. Fortunately, Crabbe and Goyle were the last ones to leave the Great Hall, making the Gryffindors' job much easier.

As the Slytherin boys came lumbering into the entrance hall, Lucy, Harry, and Ron ducked behind a suit of armor. They watched as Crabbe spotted the cupcakes and snatched them up. The two boys gleefully stuffed the cakes into their mouths.

"How thick can you get?" Ron whispered in disbelief as Crabbe and Goyle gobbled the cakes down.

Then, very suddenly, both boys fell over backwards, seemingly asleep. Lucy hurried over to make sure that they were indeed knocked out before motioning to Harry and Ron to join her.

Harry and Ron grabbed Crabbe first and hauled him into a closet located just off the entrance hall. Then, as they went to get Goyle, Lucy bent over and took off Crabbe's shoes. She did the same with Goyle's when they had him in the closet, as well. Harry then pulled out some of Goyle's hair, while Ron took out some of Crabbe's.

Finally, when they had everything they needed, Lucy shut the closet door and muttered a quick locking spell on the handle. Harry led the way back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

There was a large, dark cloud of smoke hovering in the bathroom as the three Gryffindors entered it. They went to the stall with the closed door and knocked.

"Hermione?" Harry said.

The lock clicked, and Hermione poked her head out. "Did you get them?" she asked, wide-eyed and anxious.

The boys held out the tufts of hair that they had acquired.

Hermione pushed the door open wider; the others could see that she was wearing a baggy Slytherin uniform under a set of Slytherin robes. "Good," she sighed in relief. "The Invisibility Cloak is here. I snuck these robes and uniforms out of the laundry," she added, pointing to a pile of Slytherin robes sitting on the floor outside the stall.

Harry and Ron nodded before glancing over to the potion. Lucy looked down at it, too.

"I'm sure I've done everything right," Hermione said quickly, although she sounded a bit nervous. "It looks like the book says it should."

"It looks like mud," Lucy pointed out bluntly.

"Once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves," Hermione finished.

There was another moment of silence.

"Now what?" Ron finally said.

"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs," Hermione replied. She picked up the ladle and poured some potion into three glasses sitting next to the cauldron.

Then, taking a breath, she dropped the hair she had into a glass. Right before their eyes, the potion in the glass turned a yellow color.

"Urgh—essence of Millicent Bullstrode," Ron groaned, looking repulsed. "Bet it tastes disgusting."

"Add yours, then," Hermione shot back.

Harry put the Goyle hairs into his glass, and Ron put the Crabbe hairs into his. The potion with the Goyle hairs turned a sort of gray-green color, while the Crabbe hairs turned the potion a dark brown.

"Hang on," Harry said, stopping Ron and Hermione from picking up their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here.… Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle, we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie, either."

"Good thinking," Ron replied. "We'll take separate stalls."

"Here," Lucy cut in, grabbing a Slytherin robe and uniform set. "Change into these first."

Ron took the clothes and went into the next stall. Lucy handed Harry the other set, and he stepped into the stall on the opposite side.

After a few minutes of the boys changing, Harry's voice called over the other two stalls, "Ready?"

"Ready," Hermione answered.

"Hold on," Ron said, a shuffling sound coming from his stall. "Okay, ready."

"One—two—three," Harry said.

Then there was silence as the three students drank from their glasses. Lucy waited anxiously as she heard groaning noises coming from behind the doors.

After a minute or two, a voice asked, "Are you two okay?" It was a deep male voice, and Lucy couldn't tell which one of the boys had said it.

"Yeah," the other boy answered back.

Then Harry's stall door opened, and Lucy stared in shock as Harry, now changed completely into Goyle, stepped out.

"Harry?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

Lucy stared at him for a few moments before saying, "Here, give me your robes." She took his clothes from him and put them in a pile on the floor. She gently slipped his glasses into her robe pocket, in case he needed them before they got back.

Then Ron's stall opened. He looked exactly like Crabbe, and he had a bewildered look on his face. "This is unbelievable," Ron said, going up to look in the mirror. " _Unbelievable_."

Meanwhile, Lucy gathered up Ron's clothes into a pile and set them on the floor next to Harry's.

"We better get going," Harry said, fiddling with the watch on his wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow.…"

Ron was staring at Harry while he was speaking. "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle _thinking_ ," he joked. He turned and knocked on Hermione's stall door. "C'mon; we need to go."

"I—I don't think I'm going to come after all," Hermione replied in a high-pitched voice. "You go on without me."

"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly," Harry said. "No one's going to know it's you."

"No—really—I don't think I'll come," Hermione insisted. "You three hurry up. You're wasting time."

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Fine—I'm fine," Hermione answered. "Go on.…"

"Come on. Let's go," Lucy said hurriedly. "She's right; we're wasting time." She pulled the Invisibility Cloak over her head.

"We'll meet you back here, all right?" Harry called to Hermione.

Then he, Ron, and Lucy hurried out of the bathroom. They set off down the corridor, Lucy following closely behind the boys. The two of them muttered to themselves as they walked, giving each other suggestions on how to look and act more like Crabbe and Goyle.

Once they reached the entrance hall, the boys stopped. There was nobody around for them to follow to the Slytherin common room.

"Any ideas?" Harry asked.

Lucy tugged the Invisibility Cloak down so only her head was visible. "Jeremy has mentioned that their common room is in the dungeons," she answered. She pointed to the dungeon stairs and added, "That way."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth when a girl came up said stairs. Harry quickly stepped in front of Lucy, so the girl wouldn't see her floating head, and Lucy ducked back under the cloak.

"Excuse me," Ron said, hurrying over to the girl. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."

"I beg your pardon?" the girl said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. " _Our_ common room? _I'm_ a Ravenclaw." She motioned to the Ravenclaw crest on her robes before walking away from them.

Once she was gone, Lucy poked her head out from the cloak again. "Just try down those stairs," she said. "I'll be here waiting for you to get back and making sure the real Crabbe and Goyle don't break out of their closet. Keep an eye on the time."

"We'll see you soon," Harry replied, and he and Ron hurried towards the dungeons.

Lucy pulled the cloak over her head once again and walked over to the closet where Crabbe and Goyle lay unconscious. She took a seat on the stone floor, bunching up the extra fabric of the cloak to sit on, and began her wait.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After a while, Lucy began to get restless. She didn't have a watch, so she didn't know how much time had passed. Not long after the boys had left, Crabbe and Goyle had stirred from their Sleeping Draught slumber. They had been pounding on the door for a while now, and Lucy was starting to develop a headache.

She held up her left arm, letting her new bracelet dangle in front of her face. The lion and snake charms hung next to each other. She touched them gently, feeling guilty that she had lied to Jeremy earlier that night. He could have helped the boys get into the Slytherin common room.

The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see Harry and Ron dashing towards the closet, and she threw the Invisibility Cloak off herself. "You two look like yourselves again!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet, as they reached her. "Nobody saw you like this down there, did they?"

"I don't think so," Ron panted.

Lucy shoved her hand into her robes and fished Harry's glasses out for him. He took them from her and put them on.

"Hurry, take those shoes off and leave them here at the door," Lucy instructed.

The boys were able to kick the shoes off quickly, having their own smaller feet back. Lucy was just about to throw the Invisibility Cloak over the three of them when a voice called out to them.

"Lucy?"

Her heart sank as she recognized who it was. She turned to see Jeremy walking over to them.

"What's going on? Why are you two wearing Slytherin uniforms?" he asked, looking over Harry and Ron in confusion. Then he heard the pounding coming from behind the closet door. "Who's in there?" he added.

"Crabbe and Goyle," Lucy answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I know they're bullies, but that doesn't mean you need to lock them in a cupboard," Jeremy said. The three Gryffindors didn't say anything, and Jeremy frowned. "Wait, why did you lock them in the cupboard?" he asked.

"Harry and Ron took Polyjuice Potion to take Crabbe's and Goyle's places," Lucy replied, "so they could interrogate Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets."

"I _knew_ there was something fishy going on," Jeremy said. "Crabbe and Goyle were acting so strangely—what am I talking about? _You_ _two_ were acting so strangely." Harry and Ron exchanged a nervous glance, and Jeremy turned back to Lucy. "I thought you said you were going to be in your common room all night," he added, sounding hurt.

"I did say that," Lucy confirmed, looking down at her shoes.

"So, you lied?" Jeremy accused.

Lucy nodded, not able to look up at him.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were planning on doing?" he demanded. "I could have helped out somehow."

The Gryffindors didn't say anything again. Lucy peeked up at him, unsure of what she could tell him to make things right.

Jeremy let out a hollow laugh. "You don't trust me," he concluded. "I'm a Slytherin, so how could you trust me?"

Lucy started, "I wanted to tell you—"

"Don't worry about it," Jeremy stopped her, his tone harsh. "I'm just another Slytherin to you." He turned to leave.

"Jeremy, wait," Lucy said.

Jeremy glanced at her over his shoulder. "I guess I'll just see you in Potions," he finished. Then he trudged away, shoving his hands into his robe pockets.

After a moment of silence, Lucy felt Harry's hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off immediately before turning and wordlessly throwing the Invisibility Cloak over herself and the two boys. She paused to quietly unlock the closet, and then the three of them hurried back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

 **~LJ:SD~**

"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron finally broke the silence as they entered the bathroom. Lucy tugged the Invisibility Cloak off them as Ron went on, "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoy's drawing room."

Harry and Ron stepped up to the stall where they had left Hermione, while Lucy hung back a bit. She couldn't get the image of Jeremy's disappointed face out of her head.

Ron, meanwhile, banged on Hermione's stall door. "Hermione, come out," he said. "We've got loads to tell you."

"Go away!" Hermione said immediately.

"What's the matter?" Ron asked. "You must be back to normal now. We are."

Moaning Myrtle floated through the door in front of them, causing Ron and Harry to take a surprised step back. "Oooh, wait till you see it," she cackled. "It's _awful_."

The stall lock clicked, and the door flew open. Hermione stepped out with her robes pulled up over her face and head.

Lucy, growing concerned with Hermione's behavior, shoved Jeremy to the back of her mind for a moment. "Hermione, are you all right?" she asked.

"Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?" Ron added.

Hermione, gulping down sobs, let her robes fall away from her face. Lucy couldn't help the gasp that escaped her. Hermione's face was covered in black fur, she had ears poking up out of her head, and her eyes were yellow.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she sobbed. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a c-cat! The p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal tr-transformations!"

"Uh oh," Ron breathed.

"You'll be teased something _dreadful_ ," Myrtle said, sounding extremely cheerful.

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry cut in, trying to sound positive. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions."

Hermione shook her head violently. "I don't want anyone to see me like this!" she wailed.

"Wait 'til everyone finds out you've got a _tail_!" Myrtle shouted gleefully.

" _Shut up, Myrtle!_ " Lucy snapped harshly. She was growing more upset and dealing with Myrtle was the last straw.

The ghost looked down at the Gryffindor with wide eyes, surprised at her tone.

Once Lucy had everyone's attention, she continued, "Hermione, we're taking you up to the hospital wing. _No interrupting!_ " she shouted as Hermione had opened her mouth to argue. "You three will change back into your own clothes, and then we will take Hermione to the hospital wing. And _you_ ," she finished, rounding on Myrtle, "will leave Hermione alone. Got it?"

Her three friends nodded while Myrtle floated away, sniffling.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione changed back into their own clothes. As they did that, Lucy dumped the rest of the Polyjuice Potion down the toilet. Then she gathered up anything that was leftover and hid it it away in the stall that they had been using.

When they were finished, Lucy, Harry, and Ron escorted Hermione up to the hospital wing. True to Harry's word, Madam Pomfrey didn't ask many questions. She just handed Hermione a gown and directed her to one of the beds. Since Hermione was far too distressed, Madam Pomfrey immediately shooed the other Gryffindors away.

On the way back to the common room, Harry and Ron relayed to Lucy what Malfoy had told them.

"So, he's not the one behind it all," Lucy said dully. "This was a complete waste."

Ron started, "It wasn't a _complete_ waste—"

"Hermione was almost turned into a cat, and I lost a friend, just so we could find out that Malfoy is not the one who has been attacking the Muggleborns," Lucy said sharply. She saw Harry and Ron exchange guilty looks.

They reached the portrait hole and gave the Fat Lady the password. The three of them silently climbed into the common room.

"Hey, where have you three been?" George called from where he was sitting on the couch. "Fred and I were looking for someone to play some Exploding Snap with. Lucy?" He looked eagerly at Lucy, but she didn't have enough energy to deal with anyone else for the rest of the night.

"I'm going to bed," she said shortly. She turned and went up to the girls' dormitories without saying good night.

After entering her dormitory, she crawled into her bed with all her clothes on. Evie immediately appeared, jumping up onto the bed next to Lucy. Lucy curled into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: Like I said in the last story, I like the idea that the Hogwarts students wear uniforms under their robes, even though that wasn't in the books. Hence why Hermione got both Slytherin robes and uniforms out of the laundry.**_

 _ **Some people might think that Jeremy is overreacting, but I think that his reaction is perfectly within his character. One of his biggest insecurities is that he's in Slytherin and that people (especially Lucy) are going to judge him poorly because of it. There is more reasoning behind that, as well, but it comes up later and I don't want to spoil anything!**_

 _ **And I had Lucy dump out the Polyjuice Potion mostly for closure, because it's never stated in the books what they do about cleaning up their mess.**_


	12. 12: The Empty Diary

_**A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 12 – The Empty Diary**

The last of Lucy's holidays were spent avoiding everyone else as much as possible. She felt absolutely horrible for lying to Jeremy and making him feel like she didn't trust him. She was also upset with Harry, Ron, and Hermione for letting them convince her to not tell Jeremy.

On the morning of Boxing Day, when Lucy had gone down to breakfast, she saw Jeremy sitting at the Slytherin table with his back to the Gryffindors. Mary was sat across from him, and when she saw Lucy enter the Great Hall, she waved. Lucy lifted her hand and gave her a small wave back, but her heart sunk when Jeremy made it a point to not turn around and look at her.

Two days after Christmas, Harry and Ron invited Lucy to come visit Hermione with them. Lucy politely but firmly declined. For the rest of the break, she spent her mealtimes sitting with Fred and George and her free time up in her dormitory.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The day before classes resumed, however, Harry and Ron were finally able to corner Lucy in the common room.

"Hermione really wants to see you," Harry said. "I think it would help lift her spirits a bit if you came to visit her."

"I don't want to go to the hospital wing right now," Lucy replied, not looking at either boy. She tried to step around them, but Ron stood in her way.

"Look, we owe you an apology," he said. "Hermione wants to be there, too. So, could you please come with us to visit her?"

Lucy looked up at him and then nodded before agreeing, "Fine. Lead the way."

Harry and Ron hurriedly guided her out of the common room and to the hospital wing. They were quiet the whole way there, which Lucy was grateful for.

When they reached Hermione's bedside, Ron grabbed an extra chair and pulled it forward for Lucy to sit on. She sat silently, waiting to hear what the other three had to say.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy," Hermione started. "Harry and Ron told me what happened with Jeremy."

Lucy shrugged, looking down at her hands. She was still wearing her bracelet, and it was quickly becoming a habit of hers to play with it.

"We shouldn't have told you to lie to him," Harry continued. "We realized that we didn't trust him, but we should have trusted _you_ when you said he could've helped."

"We want you to know that we're going to try and be nicer to him," Ron added.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Lucy said bitterly. "I don't think he has any interest in being my friend ever again."

"Well, we're still very sorry," Hermione said.

Lucy looked up at her. She knew her friends were sorry about what had happened, and she also knew that there was nothing her friends could do besides apologize. "Thank you," she mumbled. "I forgive you." She saw Harry and Ron exchange grins, and Hermione beamed. "Now, more importantly," Lucy continued in a stronger voice, "how are _you_ doing?" She reached over and briefly squeezed Hermione's wrist.

"I'm okay," Hermione replied. "The tail was the first thing to go, and the fur and the ears are slowly disappearing. My eyes seem a bit stubborn, though."

Lucy nodded, glancing over the cat ears still protruding from her friend's head. "Does Madam Pomfrey know how long you'll be in here?" she asked.

"No," Hermione answered, visibly wilting. "It depends on how long it takes for everything to go back to normal. Madam Pomfrey says it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months."

"A few _months_?" Lucy echoed in shock.

"I know!" Hermione wailed. "I can't even imagine missing that much school! All those lessons…"

"We'll be sure to bring you your homework," Lucy assured her. "You're one of the only people I know who could still pass class with flying colors without actually attending."

Hermione smiled gratefully, but before conversation could go any further, Madam Pomfrey came over and shooed the other Gryffindors out, saying Hermione needed her rest.

"So, are we forgiven, too?" Ron asked as they trooped back to Gryffindor tower.

"Yes, Ron," Lucy said with a smirk.

"Then how would you feel about getting your ass handed to you in chess?" Ron shot back.

"There is no way I'm _ever_ playing you in chess," Lucy retorted. "I've told you this at least one hundred times."

"Fine," Ron grumbled. Then he turned to Harry and said, "Fancy a game of chess?"

"I suppose," Harry replied.

Lucy chuckled, feeling relieved to be on good terms with her friends once again.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Once lessons resumed, Hermione's absence from classes created a large amount of rumors as to her whereabouts. Many people came up to Lucy, Harry, and Ron to ask about her.

Lucy quickly became irritated with their fellow students' curiosity. "No, Hermione has not been Petrified!" she snapped at a pair of third-year Ravenclaw girls who had come up to her at lunch one day.

The two girls hurried away from the Gryffindor table, blushing furiously.

"It is _ridiculous_ how quickly rumors spread around here," Lucy said to Harry and Ron as she turned back to her lunch.

"People are just worried," Harry replied. "The idea of getting Petrified is terrifying."

"I think they just want to know the latest gossip," Lucy replied, shaking her head.

Fortunately, there were no more attacks, and the other students quickly learned that Hermione was in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hung up curtains around Hermione's bed to give her some privacy.

Every night after dinner, Lucy, Harry, and Ron would go visit Hermione. True to her word, Lucy made sure to bring Hermione their class work, and she would also take Hermione's completed homework to class for her.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A few weeks into the start of term, Lucy was waiting with the rest of her classmates for Snape to let them into the Potions classroom when Daphne came up to her.

"Hi there," Daphne said cheerfully.

Lucy hesitated, confused as to why the Slytherin was talking to her. "Hi, Daphne," she replied.

Daphne smiled slyly. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "You're wondering why I'm even talking to you."

"A little bit, yes," Lucy said honestly. "I figured that if Jeremy wasn't talking to me, then you and the others wouldn't, either."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "That boy," she sighed.

"Did he tell you what happened?" Lucy asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, he told me," Daphne answered. "I mean, I can see why he'd be upset. I've grown up with him, you know. He and I have very similar home situations, and I—and I don't mean to offend you with this—but I know him a bit better than you do."

"I'm not offended," Lucy said quickly. "I realize that you know him better than I do. I'm afraid that now I'm never going to get the chance to get to know him, though."

"I've been trying to talk to him about all of it," Daphne said, "and I know he'll come around… eventually. You've just got to give him time."

She looked over to where Jeremy was standing, and Lucy glanced over, as well. He was avoiding her gaze.

"I'll see what I can do about him," Daphne finished. "He's a bit stubborn, but I also know that he really likes you. Don't worry; I'll talk to him."

"Thanks, Daphne," Lucy said earnestly.

Daphne smiled and then moved away to rejoin Jeremy.

 **~LJ:SD~**

That night, Lucy, Harry, and Ron went to visit Hermione, as they usually did. Lucy handed Hermione their homework from the day.

"You know, Hermione," Ron said, "if I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work."

"Don't be silly, Ron. I have to keep up," Hermione replied.

The fur had finally all gone from her face, and the ears had disappeared, as well. The only thing left to fade away were the yellow eyes. They had slowly started to go back to their usual brown, a fact that had delighted both Hermione and Madam Pomfrey.

"I don't suppose you've got any new leads?" Hermione asked, her voice dropping to a low whisper.

Lucy shook her head. "Quiet as a tomb out there," she replied.

"Nothing," Harry chimed in.

"I was _so_ _sure_ it was Malfoy," Ron complained once again.

"Well, it's not, so you can stop saying that," Lucy told him.

"What's that?" Harry asked suddenly, pointing towards Hermione's pillow.

"Just a get-well card," Hermione insisted, moving to push something under the pillow, but Ron was quick to snatch it away.

" _To Miss Granger_ ," Ron read aloud as Hermione's cheeks turned bright read, " _wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of_ Witch Weekly's _Most-Charming-Smile Award_. You sleep with this under your _pillow_?" Ron added, frowning.

Madam Pomfrey swooped in at that moment, saving Hermione from answering, and kicked the other Gryffindor students out of the hospital wing.

 **~LJ:SD~**

"Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you've ever met or what?" Ron commented as he, Lucy, and Harry made their way back to the common room.

Lucy and Harry both shrugged.

"I've got so much Potions homework to do," Harry said, changing the subject. "I'm going to be up all night finishing it."

"Wish I would've asked Hermione how many rat tails are supposed to be in a Hair-Raising Potion," Ron whined.

"It wouldn't kill you to read your Potions book, Ron," Lucy said, shaking her head.

As the three students reached the bottom of a set of stairs, they heard a loud shout from the floor above.

"That's Filch," Harry said before jogging up the stairs.

Lucy and Ron followed closely, and they stopped at the top of the stairs, listening down the corridor.

"You don't think someone else has been attacked?" Ron asked worriedly.

"— _even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do!_ " Filch was thundering. " _No, this is the final straw! I'm going to Dumbledore—!_ " They heard footsteps stomping away, followed by a door slamming shut.

Lucy was the first to poke her head around the corner. They were back up by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The floor was covered in water, just like it had been on Halloween night. "Looks like Myrtle's flooded her bathroom again," she reported to the boys, beckoning to them that the coast was clear.

They could now hear the faint crying of Myrtle at the end of the hall.

" _Now_ what's up with her?" Ron groaned.

"Let's go and see," Harry said, taking the lead down the corridor.

They splashed through the large puddle of water and went into the bathroom. It was dark inside, and Lucy quickly lit up her wand. Myrtle's cries were nearly earsplitting.

"What's up, Myrtle?" Harry called loudly towards Myrtle's regular stall.

"Who's that?" the ghost replied, sniffling. "Come to throw something else at me?"

"Why would I throw something at you?" Harry asked, moving closer to the stall.

Myrtle appeared from inside her toilet, sending water rushing across the floor. Ron grimaced next to Lucy as the cold water seeped into their shoes.

"Don't ask _me_ ," Myrtle snapped. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's _funny_ to throw a book at me.…"

"It can't hurt you if someone throws something at you, though," Harry reasoned. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at Harry's tactlessness, and Myrtle swelled up in indignation.

"Well, let's _all_ throw books at Myrtle, because _she_ can't feel it!" she screeched. "Ten points if you can get it through her _stomach_! Fifty points if it goes through her _head_! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I _don't_ think!"

"Who threw it at you, anyway?" Harry asked, desperate to get Myrtle to stop screaming.

" _I_ don't know," Myrtle pouted. "I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head."

"So, this person didn't actually throw it _at_ you, did they?" Lucy pointed out bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What are you talking about?" Myrtle asked, rounding on Lucy.

"Well, it seems like someone tried to flush it down the toilet that you just _happened_ to be in," Lucy retorted. "They didn't come in here with the _intention_ of throwing it at you."

Myrtle just floated in the air, seemingly lost for words.

"What happened to this book?" Harry asked, directing Myrtle's attention back to him.

"It's over there," Myrtle replied, motioning to a sink across the room. "It got washed out."

The three Gryffindors walked over to the sink and looked at the small book that was resting on the floor. It was soaking wet. Harry bent down to pick it up, but Ron grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Are you crazy?" Ron replied. "It could be dangerous."

" _Dangerous_?" Harry chuckled. "Come off it. How could it be dangerous?"

"You'd be surprised," Ron said. "Some of the books the Ministry's confiscated—Dad's told me—there was one that burned your eyes out—and everyone who read _Sonnets of a Sorcerer_ spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives—and some old witch in Bath had a book that you could _never stop reading_! You just had to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do everything one-handed! And—!"

"All right; I've got the point," Harry said, waving Ron off. "Well, we won't find out unless we look at it." Then he picked up the book. "It's a diary," he continued. He opened the book and looked at the first page. " _T.M. Riddle_ ," he read.

"Hang on," Ron interrupted, a look of concentration on his face. "I know that name.… T.M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago."

"Why do you know that?" Lucy asked, looking at her friend in surprise.

"Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times during detention," Ron answered darkly. "That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you'd wiped slime off a name for an hour, you'd remember it, too."

Harry was leafing through the diary as Lucy and Ron stood by and watched. "He never wrote in it," he finally said, sounding disappointed.

"I wonder why someone wanted to flush it away?" Ron added, and Lucy shrugged.

Harry turned the book over in his hands. "He must've been Muggleborn," he remarked, "to have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road.…"

"Well, it's not much use to you," Ron said, still sounding a bit anxious. Then he added in a whisper, "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose."

"Ron," Lucy chided, nudging him.

Harry, however, shrugged and dropped the diary into an inner pocket of his robes.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A few weeks later, Hermione was discharged from the hospital wing. She had been restored completely to her original state, and Lucy was overjoyed to be getting her friend back in the dormitory with her. She had been feeling more and more annoyed with Lavender and Parvati, as they were recently in the habit of talking about nothing but gossip. Lucy was thankful for Sally-Anne, who also seemed irritated by Lavender's and Parvati's gossiping.

Lucy met Hermione at the hospital wing that night, so they could walk together down to dinner.

"Thanks again, Lucy," Hermione said, pulling her freshly washed robes over her school uniform.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked.

"I'm so much better, especially since I finally get to leave the hospital," Hermione replied. "I _am_ feeling a little anxious, I suppose. I hope that people won't stare."

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure you'll get your wish on that one," Lucy said, frowning. "You've been up here for a while now. At least now people will _finally_ believe me about you not being Petrified!"

Hermione giggled. "Well, that's something," she agreed. She took a deep breath before adding, "Shall we?"

Lucy grinned and looped her arm through one of Hermione's. They left the hospital wing with a farewell to Madam Pomfrey and started for the Great Hall.

"You have no idea what it's been like in the dormitory without you," Lucy whined as they walked. "All Parvati and Lavender talk about these days is who's dating who. I mean, the Chamber of Secrets is open, and people are in terrible danger of being Petrified, and all they can talk about is which boys are the cutest!"

"Neither of them are Muggleborns," Hermione reasoned. "I'm sure they don't feel in as much danger as others do."

"I suppose that's true," Lucy said. "Thank Merlin for Sally-Anne, though. Without her, I think I would have gone nuts."

There was silence as the girls walked down a flight of stairs before Hermione tentatively asked, "Have you spoken with Jeremy recently?"

"No," Lucy mumbled. "He sits on the opposite side of the dungeon in Potions class with Daphne, and he hasn't been over to our table since Christmas dinner."

"Have you tried going up to him?" Hermione suggested.

"No," Lucy repeated, "and I'm not going to. He deserves a better friend than me."

Hermione started, "Lucy—"

"It's okay, Hermione," Lucy interrupted firmly with a shake of her head. "It's done. I don't want to talk about it." She briefly touched her charm bracelet before shaking her hair back away from her face and changing the subject. "Are you excited to have dinner in the Great Hall again?"

"It's the same food as in the hospital wing," Hermione laughed.

"Yeah, but now you'll have company that's not Madam Pomfrey!" Lucy exclaimed.

They finally reached the Great Hall, and Hermione paused a few feet away from the doors.

"You okay?" Lucy asked, turning to look at her friend.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "Just trying to get ready to face the school now that I'm back." She took a minute to compose herself before saying, "Okay. Let's eat."

Lucy led the way into the Great Hall. The hall fell silent as the girls walked down the aisle along the Gryffindor table until they found an empty space next to the Weasley twins and across from Harry and Ron. Hermione's face was slightly pink as they sat down, but nothing was said. The other students returned to their conversations as though nothing had happened.

"Good to see you, Hermione," Fred said, leaning over George to smile at Hermione. "Glad you're feeling better."

"Ditto," George added.

Hermione thanked them both, looking pleased, before serving herself some dinner.

 **~LJ:SD~**

That night in the common room, many of the other Gryffindors came up to Hermione to greet her. Hermione couldn't keep the grin off her face.

When the initial excitement from her being back died down, Harry retrieved the diary he'd found and showed it to her.

"Oooh, it might have hidden powers," Hermione said, excitedly but carefully taking the book into her hands and examining it.

"If it has, it's hiding them very well," Ron replied.

"Maybe it's shy," Lucy added half-jokingly.

"I still don't know why you won't chuck it, Harry," Ron said to his friend. He was still very cautious about the diary, even though nothing had happened since Harry had found it.

"I wish I knew why someone _did_ try to chuck it," Harry said. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts, either."

"Could've been anything," Ron replied, shrugging. "Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done _everyone_ a favor—"

"Ron, just because she's miserable as a ghost doesn't mean she was that way when she was alive," Lucy said. She and Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, who both had puzzled looks on their faces.

"What?" Ron prompted them.

"Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it?" Harry started. "That's what Malfoy said."

"Yeah…" Ron said, still sounding unsure of what Harry was thinking, but it clicked in Lucy's head.

"And _this diary_ is fifty years old," she said, nodding slowly.

"So?" Ron said.

"Oh, Ron, wake up," Hermione sighed. "We know the person who opened the chamber last time was expelled _fifty years ago_. We know T.M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school _fifty years ago_. Well, what if Riddle got their special award for _catching the Heir of Slytherin_? Their diary would probably tell us everything—where the chamber is, how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it—the person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want _that_ lying around, would they?"

"That's a _brilliant_ theory, Hermione," Ron shot back, "with just one tiny flaw. _There's nothing written in this diary_."

"Maybe it's invisible ink," Lucy suggested, shrugging.

Hermione quickly pulled her wand out of her bag and tapped the diary three times. " _Aparecium_!" she stated, but nothing happened. Looking determined, she fished out a large red bit of rubber. "It's a revealer," she explained when she saw her friends' bewildered looks. "I got it in Diagon Alley." She took the revealer and rubbed it against the first page of the diary, but again nothing happened.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing to find in there," Ron insisted. "Riddle just got a diary for Christmas and couldn't be bothered filling it in."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next day, Lucy, Harry, and Hermione went eagerly to the trophy room to see Riddle's special award. Ron also accompanied them, although he still wasn't sure of the connections his friends had made.

"Oh, Ron, calm down," Lucy said, laughing. "We're just going to the trophy room to look at an award."

"I've seen enough of this trophy room to last me a lifetime," Ron complained. However, he followed along after the other three anyway.

When they reached the room, Ron led the others to the award, where it was practically hidden in the back of one of the cabinets. There was no new information on it, just Riddle's name and "Special Services" engraved on a golden shield.

"Why wouldn't they have the service written _on_ the award?" Harry asked, sounding frustrated. "It's pretty small."

"Good thing, too, or I'd still be polishing it," Ron muttered sourly.

"Let's have a look around," Hermione suggested. "They might have had some other awards."

"Let's split up, too," Harry added.

The four Gryffindors spread out across the trophy room, examining the different awards for the name _Riddle_.

"Here's something!" Ron called after a few minutes. "A Medal for Magical Merit, awarded to a _Riddle_."

"Any other name, or just _Riddle_?" Harry asked.

"No, just the surname," Ron replied.

A couple more minutes passed before Hermione was calling them all to her side of the room. She was looking through an old list of Head Boys and Girls.

"I found a T.M. Riddle," she said. "He was listed as the Head Boy from 1944 to 1945."

After searching for a little while longer, the four decided it was time to leave.

"Well, we found out that he's a boy," Lucy said, shrugging.

Harry was frowning, seeming disappointed that they hadn't found out more.

"He sounds like Percy," Ron commented. "Prefect, Head Boy… probably top of every class."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Hermione said, looking downcast.

"Maybe we could try the library," Harry said.

"We don't need to turn this into another Nicolas Flamel search," Lucy replied, shaking her head. "Maybe Ron's right. Maybe Riddle just had a diary that he never wrote in."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The school-wide anxiety that the Chamber of Secrets had created right before the holidays had calmed down considerably. There had been no attacks since December, so nearly two months later—without a peep from the Heir of Slytherin—many of the students began wondering if the danger had passed.

One day in the second week of February, as the Gryffindors lined up outside of their Transfiguration room, Professor McGonagall arrived at the class with Lockhart in tow. She looked a bit irritated and stopped walking a few feet from the door as Lockhart continue to talk animatedly to her.

"Can you hear what he's saying?" Harry muttered to Lucy.

Lucy shook her head, and the two of them edged a bit closer to the pair of professors.

"I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," Lockhart was saying. "I think the chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him." Professor McGonagall attempted to stop their conversation, but Lockhart barreled on, "You know—what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the bad memories of last term! I won't say any more now, but I think I know just the thing." With that, he strode away, looking rather pleased with himself.

Professor McGonagall, frowning deeply, let the Gryffindors into her classroom.

"How thick is he?" Harry murmured. "He thinks that _he's_ stopped the attacks?"

"Are you surprised?" Lucy whispered back. "He thinks the entire world revolves around him, so of _course_ he took care of the Heir of Slytherin. He's probably thinking about how he can turn this into his next best-selling book."

 **~LJ:SD~**

Later that day, Lucy and Harry told Ron and Hermione what they had overheard. All four speculated on what the so-called _morale_ - _booster_ could be, but they couldn't come up with anything.

On Valentine's Day, however, they found out what Lockhart clearly meant to be his morale-booster.

"What in the bloody hell?" Ron asked slowly as he, Lucy, and Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

Every inch of the hall was covered in pink and red decorations. There were flowers all over the walls, and heart-shaped confetti was falling from the ceiling. Hermione couldn't help giggling, and Lucy laughed out loud in disbelief.

"It's just some decorations for Valentine's Day," Hermione told Ron as he looked around with his jaw dropped open.

"This is _disgusting_ ," Ron commented.

Lucy and Hermione both shook their heads and led the way to some open seats at the Gryffindor table. Lucy sat next to George, and Hermione and Ron sat across from her.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" George exclaimed. He gestured around the hall and said, "Don't you just _love_ the decorations?"

"They are spectacular, sir," Lucy replied sarcastically. "When Lockhart mentioned a _morale_ - _booster_ , I figured it'd be something completely ridiculous."

"He means well," Hermione insisted. "It's really not that bad."

"Hermione, this place makes me want to _vomit_ ," Ron countered.

Just then, Harry arrived and sat down next to Lucy. "What's going on?" he asked, glancing around the hall with uncertainty.

Before anyone could say anything, however, Lockhart was signaling for quiet. "Happy Valentine's Day!" he announced gleefully. "Firstly, may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all—and it doesn't end here!"

He clapped his hands, and in came marching a group of dwarfs. They were carrying harps and wearing wings on their backs.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" Lockhart continued, looking excited. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentine's—and the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion? And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

"Love Potions? Entrancing Enchantments?" Lucy repeated in disgust. "Valentine's Day is supposed to be about loving one another, not about tricking people into temporarily falling for you."

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," Ron said.

Hermione busied herself with looking through her bag, so she wouldn't have to answer him.

 **~LJ:SD~**

All day long, classes were interrupted by Lockhart's cupids. They seemed to have no respect for the professors who were trying to teach. Thankfully, Lucy hadn't received any Valentine's, but in the afternoon, one of the cupids came calling for Harry.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter!" it shouted at him.

"Harry, come on—quickly," Lucy said, grabbing his arm and pulling him up the stairs.

All of a sudden, there was a dwarf between them. "I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," it said.

" _Not here_ ," Harry hissed back at it. He pushed past the dwarf, but it grabbed his backpack and pulled him backwards.

"Stay _still_!" the dwarf demanded.

"Let go of him!" Lucy snarled, attempting to pull Harry forward again.

Unfortunately, the dwarf continued to tug on Harry's bag, and it ripped apart. The contents went flying all over the corridor below. As Harry went scrambling to pick up his things, Lucy turned to the dwarf.

"He _said_ he doesn't want it!" she screamed at it. "Look what you've done!"

"I'm just trying to do me job," the dwarf replied, waddling off towards Harry.

The commotion was causing a back up in the hall, and there were murmurs going all through the crowd. Hermione and Ron rushed down the stairs to join Lucy.

"What's going on here?" Malfoy had arrived with his normal gang of Crabbe and Goyle.

"What's all this commotion?" Percy Weasley asked, pushing his way through the crowd of students.

Harry desperately tried to get away from the scene, but the dwarf lunged forward and grabbed him around the shins, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Right," it said, plopping itself down on Harry's legs. "Here's your singing Valentine."

As it sung its short little tune, Lucy hurriedly snatched up Harry's bag and quietly fixed it with a wave of her wand. Most of Harry's belongings were inside it, but there were a few things still on the floor.

When the dwarf had finished its song, it got up and waddled away. Harry, trying to mask the look of horror on his face with that of nonchalance, slowly got off the floor.

Percy was directing other students away from the scene. "Off you go! Off you go!" he instructed. "The bell rang five minutes ago. Off to class, now. You, too, Malfoy.…"

Malfoy had picked something up off the floor and was sneeringly showing it to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Give that back," Harry said in a low voice.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" Malfoy asked mockingly. He held the Riddle diary in one hand, and he had seemingly mistaken it for Harry's own.

"Hand it over, Malfoy," Percy interjected.

"When I've had a look," Malfoy replied, grinning gleefully.

Percy started, "As a school prefect—"

" _Expelliarmus!_ " Harry shouted, his wand pointing at Malfoy.

The book flew out of Malfoy's hand, and Ron caught it.

"Harry!" Percy exclaimed. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"

Harry didn't pay him any attention, and Malfoy looked furious.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!" Malfoy shouted towards a group of first-year students.

Lucy turned to see Ginny hurry into a classroom, her face in her hands. Ron whipped his wand out, but Lucy and Hermione grabbed his arms and pulled him away. Lucy then handed Harry his mended backpack, and the four of them went up the stairs to their Charms class.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Harry's Valentine song had spread across the school like wildfire. By dinnertime, everyone had heard of it, and when they got back to the common room that evening, Fred and George had memorized the words and were boisterously singing it to entertain their fellow Gryffindors.

Harry was the first person to go up to bed that night. Lucy suspected that it was at least partially because he was tired of hearing the twins sing the Valentine.

"Boys, enough," Lucy finally told them. "I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing that. Besides, you've scared Harry off now."

"I'm surprised Ginny had the guts to send Harry a Valentine in the first place," George replied, sitting down on the couch next to Lucy.

"I don't know if she expected Lockhart's stupid cupids to do singing Valentines in front of everyone," Lucy said. "Where _is_ Ginny, anyway? She never seems to want to spend time in the common room with us."

"Hanging out with her first-year friends, I'm sure," Fred said.

"I miss her," Lucy said sadly. "I hardly ever see her anymore."

"It's okay, Lucy," George replied, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "You always have us to hang out with!"

Lucy chuckled. "This is true," she agreed.

 **~LJ:SD~**

She spent a few more hours in the common room with the Weasley twins, Ron, and Hermione before deciding to head to bed. She and Hermione bid good night to the boys and climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"So," Hermione started, "did you happen to send a certain Slytherin anything for Valentine's Day?"

Lucy frowned. "No," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Hermione said quickly. Lucy gave her a look, and Hermione hurried to add, "I don't know. I just thought that Valentine's Day could be a good time to try and start talking to him again." She pushed their dormitory door open, and she and Lucy entered the room.

"I don't think he'll ever forgive me," Lucy replied, "and I don't think sending him something would have changed anything."

"Okay," Hermione said, sounding defeated. "If you ever want to talk about anything, though, you know I'm here for you."

"Ooh, who are you talking about?" Lavender cut in.

Lucy turned to see her and Parvati sitting on Lavender's bed and looking at the other two with interest. "Nobody," Lucy replied shortly. "Just a boy."

"I didn't even know you fancied a boy!" Parvati exclaimed.

"I don't fancy a boy," Lucy said immediately.

Lavender and Parvati shrugged and left her alone, but Hermione gave Lucy a knowing look.

"I don't like him," Lucy repeated to her friend. "At least, not like that."

"Whatever you say, Lucy," Hermione said. She also left Lucy alone to get into her pajamas.

As Lucy climbed into bed, she couldn't help but think about what the girls had said. There was no way she had a crush on Jeremy; she was only twelve years old, for goodness sake.

Lucy burrowed under her covers, said a quick _good_ _night_ to Hermione, and drew the curtains of her four-poster bed mostly closed. She rolled over, facing her bedside table. The light glinted off her charm bracelet that sat on top of the table. Reaching out, she touched it once. Then she drew her covers over her head, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: How fitting that today is Valentine's Day and the Valentine's Day scenes are in this chapter. It was purely coincidence, I promise!**_

 _ **I know it seems that either Lucy forgave her friends rather quickly or she shouldn't have been upset with them in the first place, but she's still just a kid. I don't know about the rest of you, but I remember being her age and getting mad at and ignoring friends when they did something that I didn't like. I think it's perfectly valid that Lucy feels angry and needs a few days to herself to wallow in self-pity.**_

 _ **The part I like most about this chapter is Daphne stepping up to try and help Lucy get Jeremy's forgiveness. Daphne is straight up one of Jeremy's best friends, and for good reason. I don't really go into her past in too much detail, but in this chapter, you can see that she mentions having a similar upbringing to Jeremy, and later on, you'll hear more about his.**_


	13. 13: We're in Trouble Now

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 13 – We're in Trouble Now**

The next morning in the Great Hall at breakfast, Lucy and Hermione were greeted with a somber Harry and Ron.

"Do you remember when my bag split open yesterday, and I got ink all over everything?" Harry began in a hushed voice. Lucy and Hermione nodded, and Harry went on, "Well, the ink should have soaked that diary, but when Ron gave it back to me, it was bone dry. So, I decided to try writing something in the diary myself. The diary soaked up my ink and _answered me_."

"The diary _answered_ you?" Lucy repeated in disbelief. "It _talked_ to you?"

"It wrote words back to me," Harry explained. "It was _Riddle_ writing back to me."

"Riddle?" Hermione echoed. "You mean—you mean, T.M. Riddle? The boy who owned the diary?"

"He had saved his memories from his Hogwarts days inside the diary," Harry went on, nodding. "So, I asked him about the Chamber of Secrets."

"Did he know who opened it?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"He took me into the diary—into his memories," Harry continued. "He showed me the night when he caught the person who opened the chamber. It was…" He trailed off, seemingly unwilling to finish his sentence.

"Who, Harry?" Lucy demanded, reaching across the table and shaking his wrist.

"It was Hagrid," Harry finished. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets. That's why he was expelled all those years ago."

Lucy and Hermione fell silent in shock. Lucy had a hard time processing what Harry had shared with them; she couldn't believe that _Hagrid_ was the one who had opened the chamber.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Within the days that followed, the four Gryffindors continually attempted to hash out the details of what Harry had seen in the diary. Hermione in particular insisted on having Harry repeat exactly what had happened many times over. Then they would have almost the same conversation every time.

"Riddle _might_ have got the wrong person," Hermione said after Harry had once again told his story. "Maybe it was some other monster attacking people—"

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Lucy asked, snorting.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," Harry said, "and the attacks must have stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have gotten his award."

"Riddle _does_ sound like Percy," Ron said scathingly. "Who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"

"The monster _killed_ someone, Ron," Hermione reminded him.

"Not to mention, Riddle was going back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," Harry added glumly. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here.…"

"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?" Ron asked.

"He was buying Flesh-Eating Slug Repellant," Harry was quick to answer.

There was a long pause after that.

"Do you think we should go and _ask_ Hagrid about it all?" Hermione spoke up quietly.

"That'd be a cheerful visit," Ron countered sarcastically. " _Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?_ "

"Maybe if there's ever another attack, we could go to him," Harry suggested. "There hasn't been an attack since before the holidays; maybe they're over. It'll save us from having to ask Hagrid any awkward questions."

Lucy, Hermione, and Ron agreed.

"There's something I don't understand, though," Lucy started. "Hagrid said that after he got expelled, Dumbledore let him stay here at Hogwarts. He's been here all this time. Why would he open the chamber _now_ , fifty years later, when he could have done so anytime between then and now?"

They were thoroughly confused about what to believe at this point, so they stuck to their original plan to go to Hagrid if there was another attack.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The days turned into weeks, and Easter was upon Hogwarts with no more attacks. The second-years were also given the surprisingly difficult task of choosing which other classes they wanted to start taking in their third year. Professor McGonagall had passed out the list of courses to the students on Friday morning before the Easter break, instructing the students to pick at least two subjects. Then she would collect their papers on Monday after the holiday.

Saturday morning after breakfast—the very first day of the break—Hermione insisted that they choose their courses for the next year.

"Hermione, we have all week to worry about it," Ron complained. "It's the first day of holidays. Can't it wait 'til next weekend?"

"Of course not!" Hermione replied, sounding aghast. "This could affect our whole future."

"I just want to give up Potions," Harry said.

"We can't," Ron answered, frowning. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But that's very important!" Hermione gasped.

"Not the way Lockhart teaches it," Ron shot back. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose."

Lucy giggled, and Hermione glared at Ron indignantly.

 **~LJ:SD~**

All week, choosing their new subjects was all the second-years could talk about. Many of them received advice from their families, and a few of the older students were happy to advise them, as well.

"Got any advice for me, boys?" Lucy asked the Weasley twins at the end of the week. They were sitting on a couch in the common room, taking a break from all the homework that had been stacked on them.

"Not really," Fred said, chuckling. "You just have to choose which classes sound interesting to you."

"The best advice to get would probably come from one of the professors," George added. "They can at least let you know which classes you should take if you're looking to go into a specific career."

"Have you not decided which classes to take yet?" Fred asked.

"I'm set on taking Muggle Studies," Lucy answered. "I was also thinking about Care of Magical Creatures and possibly Arithmancy? Do you think three classes is too many?"

"Well, you have to pick at least two," George said. "There are plenty of people in our year who chose three. Fred and I, however, felt that two extra classes were more than enough."

Lucy giggled.

Hermione joined them then, her course list in hand, and asked Lucy, "Have you decided which classes you're taking?"

"Have you?" Lucy shot back.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, sounding worried. "I want to take them all, of course."

"Well, you definitely could, if you don't want to sleep next year," George remarked, smirking.

Lucy flicked him in the ear. "Have you talked to Professor McGonagall at all?" she suggested, turning back to Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione answered. "She told me she wouldn't recommend most students to take all of the courses, but she also said that I would probably be able to handle it."

"Then I suppose there's only one thing left to ask yourself," Lucy said. "Do _you_ think you'd be able to handle it?"

 **~LJ:SD~**

Sunday night, the second-years who hadn't chosen classes were in a state of mild panic.

Lucy sat with Harry and Ron as they mulled over their lists one last time. "Have you two decided _anything_?" she asked them.

"We're going to take the same classes," Harry replied.

"And we're only choosing two," Ron added.

"Okay," Lucy said. "That's a good start. Have you decided which two?"

"Not as such," Ron answered, avoiding Lucy's gaze, and Harry also kept his head down.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. "Well, if you're planning on taking the same classes, why don't you each pick one?" she said. "That has to be easier than trying to pick two, right?"

"Could always do what Dean did," Harry said. "Close our eyes and point randomly at the list. What are you taking again, Lucy?"

"Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and Arithmancy," Lucy answered promptly. "Oh, and Hermione's taking everything, so at least one of us will be in the classes that you choose."

It took the boys a little longer to ponder their decision, but they finally came up with Divination and Care of Magical Creatures as their final choices. The rest of the Gryffindor second-years finished up their course lists, as well. Hermione was the only one to sign up for every single course offered.

Lucy was content with her choices. However, when she went to bed that night, her mind wandered to Jeremy. They hadn't spoken since Christmas, and she missed him terribly. She did her normal ritual of touching her charm bracelet before drifting off to sleep.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A few weeks passed, and the Gryffindors found themselves getting excited for their next Quidditch match of the season. Oliver had the team out every night practicing for the big game. Lucy, Hermione, and Ron often stayed up late in the common room waiting for Harry to return for the night.

The Saturday night before the match, Harry and the rest of the team entered the common room, seemingly high in spirits.

Harry stopped by the chairs where Lucy and Hermione were sitting. "Hi there," he said.

"Hi," Lucy replied. "How was practice?"

"Pretty good," Harry said. "I think we're going to beat Hufflepuff tomorrow. Where's Ron?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione answered, looking at Harry over the top of her book. "I think he was with Seamus and Dean."

"Okay." Harry let out a yawn. "I'm going to go change out of my Quidditch stuff. I'll be back in a few minutes." He disappeared up the boys' staircase.

He'd only been gone for short while when Ron, Seamus, and Dean came into the common room.

"Is Harry back yet?" Ron asked Lucy and Hermione.

"Yeah; he went up to your dormitory to change," Lucy replied.

Ron nodded, and he and the other two boys also left for the dormitories.

Fred and George came over, sporting identical grins on their faces.

"Excited for the match tomorrow?" Lucy asked, smiling at them both.

"Oh, yeah," Fred replied.

"Hufflepuff won't know what hit 'em," George said.

"The Quidditch Cup is going to be ours this year. I can feel it," Fred added.

"What are you two doing? Studying?" George asked.

"Something like that," Hermione said, holding up her book so the twins could read the cover.

"Ancient Runes, huh?" Fred said. "Bit keen, aren't you?"

"It never hurts to read ahead," Hermione shot back, smirking. She turned her attention back to her book.

"Well, we'll let you two get on with… whatever it is you're doing," George said. "See you later!" He and his brother waved and went to join some of their friends.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron came hurrying up to the girls.

"I thought you were going to change out of your Quidditch stuff," Lucy said, puzzled as to why Harry was wearing the same clothes.

"Riddle's diary is gone," Harry explained in a hushed tone. "Someone has been in our dormitory. They searched through all my things, and they stole it."

"They didn't just search through his things," Ron corrected. "They completely _tore_ Harry's side of the dormitory apart."

"Are you sure that the diary is all they took?" Lucy asked, bewildered.

"Yes, just the diary," Harry confirmed.

Hermione stammered, "But—only a Gryffindor could have stolen—Nobody else knows our password—"

"Exactly," Harry said, nodding.

"There's no way," Lucy said. "Why would any Gryffindor want Riddle's diary? And if they did—and they knew Harry had it—why wouldn't they just ask about it?"

Harry shrugged and shook his head.

"You should go to Professor McGonagall," Hermione insisted. "Report that you've had a book stolen from you."

"She might ask too many questions," Harry replied. Hermione opened her mouth to speak again, but Harry held up a hand to stop her. "It's okay, Hermione. It's getting late. I think I'll turn in." He bid everyone good night and headed back up the stairs.

Hermione shook her head and turned to Lucy. "Why can't he ever just make anything simple?" she asked.

Lucy shrugged. "We should probably get some sleep, too," she said. "Big day tomorrow."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The next morning dawned brightly. The sun shone cheerfully in a cloudless blue sky. Lucy and Hermione excitedly dressed up in all Gryffindor colors for the match, taking their time along with Sally-Anne, Lavender, and Parvati. Sally-Anne offered to braid Lucy's hair with red and gold ribbons, which Lucy gratefully accepted. All five also wore their Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirts under light jackets. While the other four were distracted, Lucy quickly slipped her charm bracelet on and hid it under her jacket sleeve.

Once they were satisfied with how they looked, they went down to the common room. Their fellow Gryffindors were also dressed up in red and gold and chatting with one another excitedly.

Eventually, Oliver gathered his team and directed them to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most of the common room emptied behind them, following the team to breakfast.

Lucy, Hermione, and Ron were able to sit with Harry at the Gryffindor table.

"Perfect Quidditch conditions!" Oliver was boasting loudly. "Harry, buck up there! You need a decent breakfast."

Harry, however, seemed a bit distracted.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked him.

"Yeah—fine," he replied. "It's just—whoever stole Riddle's diary could be here right now, sitting somewhere at this table with us."

"You really should report it, you know," Hermione cut in, looking concerned.

Harry shook his head and turned his attention to his eggs.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After they were finished with their breakfast, Lucy, Ron, and Hermione decided to walk Harry down to the Quidditch pitch. They had only gone as far as the entrance hall when Harry stopped suddenly with a loud shout.

"What? What!?" Lucy said as she, Ron, and Hermione froze in place.

"That voice!" Harry replied. "I've just heard it again—didn't you?"

Lucy and Ron shook their heads at the same time, but Hermione gasped. "Harry—I think I've just understood something!" she said. "I've got to go to the library!" Before her friends could say anything, she turned and ran away.

" _What_ does she understand?" Harry asked, looking around the entrance hall.

"Loads more than I do," Ron answered.

"Well, why's she got to go to the library?" Harry pressed.

"She didn't say," Lucy told him.

"That's just what Hermione does," Ron added. "When in doubt, go to the library."

"Come on, Harry; you need to get moving," Lucy said, ushering Harry and Ron towards the front doors. "Oliver will kill you if you're late."

They hurried out of the castle and down the front lawn. When they reached the locker rooms, Lucy and Ron bid Harry good luck before making their way into the stands.

"I hope Hermione will be done in the library soon," Lucy commented. "I don't want her to miss the match." She and Ron joined up with Neville, Seamus, and Dean in the crowd and waited for the game to begin.

"Welcome to today's Quidditch match!" Lee Jordan's voice announced. "Today's game is Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!"

There were the usual cheers around the field.

"Here comes the Hufflepuff team! Douglas, Ormskirk, Inglebee, Rickett, O'Flaherty, Fleet, and Diggory!"

Seven yellow-clad figures marched out onto the field.

"Seriously, where is Hermione?" Lucy asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, Lucy," Ron said. "She'll be here."

"Now, for the Gryffindors!" Lee continued. "Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, Wood, and Potter!"

Lucy and the others cheered for their team as they also came out onto the pitch.

At the center of the field, the two captains shook hands. Then Madam Hooch directed the teams to get ready to begin. Before she could blow her whistle, however, Professor McGonagall came bursting onto the field. She lifted a large megaphone up and addressed the crowd.

"This match has been cancelled," her voice echoed around the stadium. Oliver immediately ran over to her, gesturing wildly, but she continued, "All students are to make their way back to the house common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

As the professor lowered the megaphone, Lucy saw her go over to Harry. "Ron, look," she said quickly, pointing out the pair.

"Come on—we can catch them up," Ron said, and the two hurriedly pushed through the crowd.

They lost the professor and Harry for a while as they exited the stadium but spotted them again heading up to the castle. Lucy and Ron broke out into a run, and Professor McGonagall slowed when she saw them approaching.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley, Jones…" she said, sounding almost distracted.

The three students followed their teacher into the castle, up the stairs, and towards the hospital wing.

"Oh, no," Lucy breathed. She didn't know what could be waiting for them in the hospital wing, but it couldn't be anything good.

"This will be a bit of a shock," Professor McGonagall warned gently. "There has been another attack—another _double_ attack."

"Oh, please, no," Lucy murmured as they stepped into the hospital. Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the two newly Petrified girls lying on beds.

" _Hermione_!" Ron moaned.

"They were found near the library," Professor McGonagall explained. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this?" She held up a small mirror. "It was on the floor next to them.…"

"No," Lucy said softly, while the boys shook their heads. Lucy felt completely in shock as she stared down at her friend's Petrified body. As many times as they had said that Hermione was in potential danger, Lucy hadn't believed that it would actually happen.

"I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower," Professor McGonagall sighed. "I need to address the students in any case."

She led the way back up to the common room in silence. When they reached the portrait, she gave the password and then stood back to let Lucy, Harry, and Ron enter first.

Lucy stumbled into the common room. The first person she saw was George, standing against the wall between the dormitory staircases. She went over and leaned against him, fisting the front of his Quidditch robes in her hands. He automatically put his arms around her and held her close as Professor McGonagall began to speak.

"I'm afraid that two students have been found Petrified this morning," she began heavily. "Miss Penelope Clearwater of Ravenclaw and Miss Hermione Granger, whom many of you know."

George squeezed Lucy, holding her tight as she let out a shaky breath.

Professor McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment, took a deep breath, and continued, reading from the paper, "Because of this most recent attack, we have some new rules that have been put into place. All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and stowed it away in her robes before saying, "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward." Then she took her leave.

As soon as the portrait door had closed behind her, the Gryffindors burst into conversation.

"That's two Gryffindors down—not counting the Gryffindor ghost—one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," Lee spoke up. "Haven't _any_ of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it _obvious_ all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The _Heir_ of Slytherin, the _monster_ of Slytherin—why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?"

Some people cheered at that.

"That's not fair, though," Lucy muttered, still shocked that her best friend was now laying Petrified in the hospital wing. "It's not all of the Slytherins. They shouldn't all be punished."

Lee looked like he was about to say something back when George cut him off, "Leave her alone. She's just found out her best friend's been Petrified."

Then he looked over and saw Harry staring at Percy, who was sitting in a chair, unmoving. "Percy's in shock, too," George told Lucy and Harry. "That Ravenclaw girl—Penelope Clearwater—she's a prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a _prefect_."

 **~LJ:SD~**

There wasn't much said after that, other than general musings as to who was doing the attacks. Lucy, Ron, and Harry eventually made their way into a corner away from everyone else.

"What're we going to do?" Ron asked. "D'you think they suspect Hagrid?"

"We've got to go and talk to him," Harry decided. "I can't believe it's him this time, but if he set the monster loose last time, he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets. That's a start."

Ron nodded in agreement.

"How are we going to talk to him? McGonagall said we've got to stay in our tower unless we're in class," Lucy pointed out.

Harry thought for a moment before giving both Lucy and Ron a determined look. "I think it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again," he said.

 **~LJ:SD~**

It was quite late by the time the three Gryffindors were able to leave the common room. Unlike any of the other times where they'd snuck out, there seemed to be a pair of teachers, prefects, or ghosts on every floor. This made it particularly tough to sneak out, because they had to try and stay as quiet as possible. They also had to walk pretty slowly, to make sure that none of their feet would accidentally slip out and be seen. At one point, Ron stubbed his toe, but they were saved by Snape sneezing just as Ron cursed in pain.

Finally, they made it out the front doors. Although it was dark and there was no sign of any teachers on the grounds, they kept the cloak over their heads all the way down to Hagrid's hut.

When they reached the door, Harry pulled the cloak off them and knocked. It was immediately opened, and they found themselves with a large crossbow pointed at them.

"Oh," Hagrid said after a second. He lowered his crossbow, looking very confused. "What're you three doin' here?"

"What's that for?" Harry countered, looking bewildered.

"Nothin'—nothin'," Hagrid answered quickly. "I've bin expectin'—doesn't matter. Come in. I'll make tea."

Lucy, Harry, and Ron filed into the hut and watched as Hagrid attempted to make them tea. He seemed very nervous and ended up accidentally breaking his teapot.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?" Lucy asked in concern.

"Did you hear about Hermione?" Harry added tentatively.

"Oh, I heard, all righ'," Hagrid replied.

He continued to prepare refreshments for his guests when there was a very loud knock on the front door. Hagrid dropped the fruit cake he was holding, and Harry lunged forward, throwing the cloak over himself, Lucy, and Ron. The three of them backed away from the table and further into the hut.

Hagrid looked around to see that they were hidden before opening his door.

"Good evening, Hagrid." Professor Dumbledore stepped into the hut, followed by another man that Lucy had never seen before.

"That's Dad's boss!" Ron hissed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!"

Lucy threw her hand over Ron's mouth to keep him quiet but was intrigued all the same. _What was the Minister of Magic doing here?_

Hagrid, meanwhile, had staggered away from the door and fallen into his arm chair.

"Bad business, Hagrid," Fudge began. "Very bad business—had to come—four attacks on Muggleborns. Things've gone far enough—Ministry's got to act."

"I never," Hagrid moaned. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir.…"

"I want it understood, Cornelius," Dumbledore said in a steady voice, "that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Look, Albus," Fudge said, "Hagrid's record is against him. The Ministry's got to do something—the school governors have been in touch—"

"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," Dumbledore insisted calmly.

"Look at it from my point of view," Fudge said. "I'm under a lot of pressure; I've got to be seen doing _something_. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said, but I've got to take him— _got_ to. I wouldn't be doing my duty—"

"Take me?" Hagrid interrupted, his voice very small. "Take me where?"

"For a short stretch only," Fudge reassured him. "Not a punishment, Hagrid—more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology—"

"Not Azkaban?" Hagrid asked hoarsely, looking horrified.

Then there was another knock on Hagrid's door, and Dumbledore answered it. Harry gasped as another man entered the hut; it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Already here, Fudge," Mr. Malfoy said. "Good, good—"

"What're you doin' here?" Hagrid snarled. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please believe me—I have no pleasure at all being inside your—er—d'you call this a house?" Mr. Malfoy said. "I simply called at the school and was told the headmaster was here."

"What exactly do you want with me, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked.

" _Dreadful_ thing, Dumbledore," Mr. Malfoy started, "but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension—you'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggleborns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an _awful_ loss that would be to the school."

Lucy had to grab Harry's hand and squeeze it to prevent either of them from jumping out from under the cloak.

"Oh, now—see here, Lucius," Fudge stammered. "Dumbledore suspended—no, no—last thing we want just now—"

"The appointment—or suspension—of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," Mr. Malfoy said. "As Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks—"

"See here, Malfoy, if _Dumbledore_ can't stop them—I mean to say, who _can_?" Fudge said, his voice full of alarm.

"That remains to be seen," Mr. Malfoy answered. "However, as all twelve of us have voted—"

Hagrid finally jumped up out of his chair. "And how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" he growled.

"Dear, dear—you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid," Mr. Malfoy said, looking at Hagrid in disgust. "I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."

"Yeh can' take Dumbledore!" Hagrid shouted. "Take him away, an' the Muggleborns won' stand a chance! There'll be _killin's_ next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore cut in. "If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall, of course, step aside."

Fudge choked out, "But—"

Hagrid roared, "No!"

"However," Dumbledore continued, looking only at Mr. Malfoy, "you will find that I will only _truly_ have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

"Admirable sentiments," Mr. Malfoy drawled. "We shall all miss your—er—highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope that your successor will manage to prevent any—ah— _killin's_."

With that, he led the way to the door and ushered Dumbledore from the hut. Fudge stood by, waiting for Hagrid to follow them out, but Hagrid stood in the middle of his hut.

"If anyone wanted ter find out some _stuff_ , all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the _spiders_. That'd lead 'em righ'! Tha's all I'm sayin'," he announced. Fudge, looking confused, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Hagrid continued, "All righ', I'm comin'." He was at the door when he added loudly, "And someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away."

The door shut behind Fudge and Hagrid, and Ron immediately pulled the Invisibility Cloak off them.

"This is awful," Lucy whispered.

"We're in trouble now," Ron agreed. "No Dumbledore. They might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone."

Fang began to howl, and Lucy nudged Ron with her elbow. "Don't talk about the school closing," she muttered, gesturing to Harry.

Harry had sunk into one of the kitchen chairs, looking lost for words. Then turned to look at his friends. "What do we do now?" he asked hoarsely.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: There's that connection Lucy has with George again.**_

 _ **One of the reasons why the Chamber of Secrets film is one of my favorites in the series is that they stuck so close to the book. I can practically hear the actors reciting the lines from the scene in Hagrid's hut every time I read it.**_


	14. 14: Follow the Spiders

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 14 – Follow the Spiders**

The weather was growing warmer, and the days were growing longer. However, now that Dumbledore was gone, the tension inside Hogwarts was at an all-time high. It didn't matter how nice it was outside when the students weren't allowed to leave the castle except for class and were being escorted everywhere by their teachers.

Madam Pomfrey had also stopped allowing visitors into the hospital wing, not wanting to take any chances on the attacker coming back to finish off the victims. This meant that Lucy, Harry, and Ron couldn't go visit Hermione—although, Lucy had to admit, there wasn't much that could be said to a Petrified person.

The students all fell into a boring routine. They were escorted to breakfast in the morning, went to their classes throughout the day, went to dinner in the evening, and then were escorted back to their common rooms. Quidditch matches had been postponed, clubs weren't allowed to meet, and the students weren't allowed to leave their common rooms to study or see their friends from other houses.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had been taken from Hogwarts, the second-year Gryffindors found themselves in Potions class. Lucy was sitting at a table with Harry and Ron when Malfoy's voice carried over from the other side of the dungeons.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he was saying smugly. "I told you—he thinks Dumbledore's the _worst_ headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't _want_ the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long; she's only filling in.…"

Snape swept past Lucy's table, breaking her concentration on what Malfoy was saying.

A few minutes later, Malfoy spoke up loudly to the Potions master, "Sir—sir, why don't _you_ apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," Snape said. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," Malfoy scoffed. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you want to apply for the job— _I'll_ tell Father you're the best teacher here."

Snape smirked but said nothing, continuing his rounds of the dungeon.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy drawled. Lucy was seeing red as she turned to glare at him, her potion forgotten, but Malfoy didn't notice her attention as he went on, "Bet you five galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger."

The bell rang, and Lucy was bolting out of her seat towards Malfoy. She had barely taken a couple steps, however, when someone blocked her path, grabbing her arms to steady her. She looked up, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Don't—it's not worth getting into trouble right now," Jeremy said in a low voice, avoiding her gaze. Lucy didn't know what to say, and Jeremy added quietly, "I'm sorry about what happened to Hermione."

Lucy said, "Jeremy—" But before she could say anything else, Jeremy had let go of her and left her to catch up with his friends. Lucy watched him go, feeling caught off-guard by the interaction.

Then she glanced at Daphne, who was smiling slyly. Daphne pulled her wand out and waved it. A folded-up piece of parchment flew through the air, and Lucy caught it. Puzzled, she smoothed out the small piece of paper and read the few words that were scrawled on it.

 _He's coming around._

Lucy felt a smile tug at her lips, and she looked back up at Daphne. Daphne winked before turning her attention back to Jeremy, who had rejoined her.

"Hurry up. I've got to take you all to your next classes," Snape demanded.

Lucy went back to her table, grabbed her bag, and joined Harry and Dean, who were restraining Ron. Then Snape escorted them all from the dungeons.

When they reached the entrance hall, Snape let the Gryffindors out the front doors. They walked the rest of the way to the greenhouses for Herbology by themselves. Harry and Dean let go of Ron's arms.

"What was that all about?" Lucy asked.

"Ron was going to rip Malfoy apart with his bare hands," Dean said, grinning, and Lucy smirked, too.

"He deserves it," Ron growled, still visibly angry.

 **~LJ:SD~**

In the greenhouse, Professor Sprout set the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to work pruning Shrivelfigs. As they started their work, Ernie Macmillan approached Harry.

"I just want to say, Harry," he began, "that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for the things I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well…" He held out his hand to Harry, and Harry shook it. Then Ernie waved his friend Hannah over, and they started working at the same table as Lucy, Harry, and Ron.

"That Draco Malfoy character is something," Ernie started. "He seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think _he_ might be Slytherin's heir."

"That's clever of you," Ron said with a mocking undertone, and Lucy nudged him gently.

"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.

"No," Harry said, putting an end to that conversation. Instead, he looked out through the glass of the greenhouse walls. A moment later, he was grabbing Lucy's arm and shaking it. Then he prodded Ron with the pruning shears still in his hand.

" _Ouch!_ " Ron gasped. "What're you…?" He trailed off as Harry pointed outside. Lucy and Ron looked out and saw a group of spiders, all walking in a line. "Oh, yeah," Ron said, sounding nervous, "but we can't follow them now—"

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest…" Harry observed, squinting at the line of spiders.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Class ended, and Professor Sprout escorted the students back into the castle. Lucy, Harry, and Ron walked at the back of the group, so they could whisper to each other.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry said. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, so he might be some help."

Lucy nodded in agreement.

"Right," Ron said. "Er—aren't there—aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?"

"Don't be a baby, Ron," Lucy said.

"There are good things in there, too," Harry reassured his friend. "There are unicorns, and the centaurs are all right."

"I really hope we don't meet any centaurs this time," Lucy grumbled.

They reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and filed inside with the rest of their classmates.

Professor Lockhart entered a minute later, looking absolutely chipper. "Come now," he said. "Why all these long faces?" Lucy and Harry exchanged a look of disbelief as Lockhart continued, "Don't you people realize the danger has passed? The culprit has been taken away!"

"Says who?" Dean spoke up.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," Lockhart explained.

"Oh, yes, he would," Ron said loudly.

"I believe I know a _touch_ more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart simpered.

Lucy looked at Ron in alarm as he began to say something else, but he stopped abruptly. Harry hissed something at him, and both boys fell silent.

Lockhart began the lesson, and Harry passed Lucy a small bit of parchment with four words written on it: _Let's do it tonight_. Lucy looked over to see Harry watching her. She nodded and slipped the parchment into her pocket.

 **~LJ:SD~**

It was a long time before the common room emptied that night. Fred, George, and Lee were the last ones awake, staying in the common room well past midnight before going up to bed. As soon as they had left for their dormitory, Harry stood up and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak out from under him. Lucy and Ron hurriedly stood next to him, and they pulled the cloak on over their heads.

Just as last time, the corridors were filled with teachers and ghosts. They made their way very slowly and quietly to the front doors, but they reached the grounds without getting caught.

"'Course," Ron started as they walked across the grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it _looked_ like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but—"

"Ron," Lucy stopped him. "It'll be fine."

They came up to Hagrid's house and pulled the cloak off. Harry pushed the front door open, and they were greeted by a very excited Fang.

"Sh, Fang, sh," Lucy said, trying to get him to stop barking.

Harry pulled a tin of fudge off the mantelpiece and gave some to Fang to eat.

"You're not supposed to feed a dog fudge," Lucy said disapprovingly, but the fudge made Fang's jaws stick together so he would stop barking.

"It was only a little bit," Harry said. "I'm sure he'll be fine." He balled up his Invisibility Cloak and left it on Hagrid's kitchen table. "C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," he called as he walked to the back door. He opened it, and Fang bounded out of the house.

Lucy and Ron followed, although Ron was still a little reluctant. Lucy pulled out her wand and whispered, " _Lumos_." The end of her wand lit up. Harry was quick to follow suit. Even with both of their lights, however, they could only see a few feet in front of them.

"Good thinking," Ron babbled. "I'd light mine, too, but—you know—it'd probably blow up or something.…"

Lucy and Harry scanned the ground with their wands until Harry quickly motioned to his friends. He had found the spiders that they needed to follow.

"You all right, Ron?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Ron breathed. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Harry took the lead, followed closely by Lucy and with Ron bringing up the rear. Fang wandered about around them, sniffing at the trees.

They followed a couple of spiders for a long time, mostly staying on a path that already existed. Eventually, the spiders left the path, and Harry hesitated. Then he suddenly yelped and jumped back, crashing into Ron as Lucy managed to dodge out of the way.

"What was that for?" Lucy asked.

"It was only Fang," Harry said, sounding relieved. "He touched my hand with his nose. What d'you reckon?" He motioned towards the spiders leaving the path.

"We've come this far," Ron said, sounding anxious.

They continued through the forest, struggling to keep up with their spider guides. There were more lower-hanging branches in this part of the forest, and there were also roots growing up out of the ground. However, the three Gryffindors pushed on without complaint.

 **~LJ:SD~**

After about half an hour of clambering through the trees, Fang stopped and let out a loud bark.

Ron immediately gripped Lucy's arm and shouted, "What?"

"There's something moving over there," Harry whispered urgently. "Listen—sounds like something big.…"

The three students froze in silence. They heard something coming closer, snapping branches as it made its way towards them.

"Oh, no," Ron moaned. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh—"

"Shut up!" Lucy hissed. "It'll hear you."

"Hear _me_?" Ron asked, his voice squeaking. "It's already heard Fang!"

There were some more noises, and then silence fell around them.

"What d'you think it's doing?" Harry asked.

"Probably getting ready to pounce," Ron replied, gulping.

"Sh!" Lucy said again.

After a few minutes of waiting, Harry spoke up again, asking, "D'you think it's gone?"

"Dunno," Ron started, but he didn't get to say anything else.

All of a sudden, they were bathed in a bright light. It was so bright that they had to shield their faces for a moment. Fang let out a yelp and tried to run, but he got caught in a thorn bush and yowled.

"Harry!" Ron shouted, sounding relieved. "Harry, it's our car!"

" _What_?" Lucy asked.

"Come on!" Ron urged, walking forward.

Lucy and Harry followed, with Lucy feeling very confused. As they got closer, Lucy could see that it was Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia.

"It's been here all this time!" Ron said, walking around the car. "Look at it! The forest's turned it wild… and we thought it was going to attack us! I wondered where it had gone!" He patted the car's side panel.

Harry looked back at the ground, trying to find a sign of the spiders. "We've lost the trail," he reported. "C'mon; let's go and find them."

"Yeah, let's move," Lucy agreed. "Ron?"

Ron didn't say anything. Lucy glanced over at him and noticed that his eyes were glued on something behind her and Harry. There was a terrified look on his face.

Before Lucy could say anything to him, she was being swept up in the air. She couldn't help the loud scream that left her as she felt herself being carried off. Looking down, she saw two hairy legs wrapped around her. She quickly looked away and tried to force herself to not think about what was happening to her. She could hear Ron and Harry struggling nearby, so she knew that they were being carried, as well.

After a few minutes of darkness, suddenly the forest lightened up. They had reached a clearing with no trees, so the stars and moon were able to shine into the forest. The ground was crawling with tiny spiders. Lucy shuddered and then looked up. She had to swallow a screech; all around the clearing, there were gathered spiders that were as large as horses. Lucy was scared, but she couldn't imagine how Ron was feeling.

Whatever was carrying Lucy dropped her in the middle of the clearing next to Harry, Ron, and Fang. Lucy scrambled over to Ron to make sure he was okay. He was pale, and his eyes were wide.

"Aragog!" one of the large spiders said. "Aragog!"

Lucy's mouth dropped open; spiders that could _talk_?

Just ahead of her and her friends appeared a spider that was even larger than the others in the clearing. "What is it?" it asked.

"Men," a spider replied.

"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog questioned.

"Strangers," a different spider answered.

"Kill them," Aragog said lazily. "I was sleeping—"

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted urgently. He stepped forward to stand in front of Lucy and Ron.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," Aragog said, sounding suspicious.

"Hagrid's in trouble," Harry continued. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" Aragog asked sharply. "Why has he sent you?"

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a—a—something on the students," Harry explained. "They've taken him to Azkaban."

"That was years ago," Aragog said. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that _I_ was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the chamber and set me free."

"So, you—you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

"I!" Aragog thundered. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me. He kept me hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend and a good man. When I was discovered and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown—all through Hagrid's goodness.…"

"So, you never—never attacked anyone?" Harry asked.

"Never," Aragog confirmed. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet.…"

"But then—do you know what _did_ kill that girl?" Harry questioned. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again."

"The thing that lives in the castle," Aragog said slowly, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

Lucy jumped up to stand next to Harry. "What is it?" she urged.

"We do not speak of it!" Aragog growled. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dreaded creature, though he asked me—many times."

"Some friend you are," Lucy muttered.

The spiders around them were shifting eagerly. Lucy looked at Harry, who had a concerned look on his face. The conversation was seemingly over, but the spiders still had them surrounded.

"Well, we'll just go, then," Harry said to Aragog.

"Go?" Aragog repeated. "I think not."

Harry stammered, "But—but—"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command," Aragog said. "However, I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."

"You said that you didn't harm humans out of respect for Hagrid!" Lucy shouted, feeling both angry and scared. "How do you think Hagrid would feel if he found out you killed his _friends_?"

Aragog didn't respond, and the spiders around them began closing in. Lucy and Harry both pulled their wands out, but before they could do anything, they heard a rumbling noise. Mr. Weasley's car came crashing into the clearing, skidding to a halt in front of Lucy, Harry, and Ron. The doors flew open, waiting for them to get in.

"Get Fang!" Harry shouted as he ran for the passenger door.

Lucy seized Fang's collar and pulled him into the backseat with her, while Ron dove for the driver's seat. The doors slammed behind them, and the car sped away from the clearing, leading them away from the spiders.

After a few minutes of silence, Harry turned in the front seat to look at Ron.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Ron seemed unable to answer him.

 **~LJ:SD~**

The car stopped at the edge of the forest and waited for its passengers to get out. As soon as Lucy opened the door, Fang bolted from the car and ran back to Hagrid's hut. Lucy hurried to follow the dog and let him back into the house. He ran straight for his basket in the corner, curling up under the blanket. Lucy patted his head a few times before retrieving the Invisibility Cloak from the table and exiting the hut.

Outside, Harry had guided Ron out of the forest. They had made it as far as Hagrid's pumpkin patch before Ron had stopped and vomited all over the ground.

"Follow the spiders," Ron croaked weakly as Lucy joined them. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," Harry reasoned.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" Ron said indignantly. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban! What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," Harry replied. "He was innocent."

"Hermione was right," Lucy said. "Riddle got the wrong person." She threw the Invisibility Cloak over the three of them. "We need to get going. I still want to get some sleep tonight."

 **~LJ:SD~**

The journey back to Gryffindor Tower was just as uneventful as the trip down had been. The corridors were still full of teachers, but the three second-years were never spotted.

They entered their common room to find it as quiet as they had left it. Harry pulled the cloak off the three of them, and Lucy bid the boys good night before climbing the girls' stairs to her dormitory.

Lucy very quietly let herself into the room, although she didn't have to worry too much. Lavender, Parvati, and Sally-Anne had all proved to be quite heavy sleepers. After kicking off her shoes, Lucy pulled her sweater over her head but didn't bother changing out of the rest of her clothes. She sat on the edge of her bed, glancing at Hermione's empty one. Then she swung her legs into bed, rolled over, touched her charm bracelet, and fell fast asleep.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: I love the short interaction between Lucy and Jeremy in this chapter.**_


	15. 15: Secret Revealed

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – Secret Revealed**

The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Ron ushered Lucy to an empty spot at the Gryffindor table rather than sitting with the other second-years.

"What is it?" Lucy asked immediately, knowing something must have happened for the boys to desire isolation.

"Last night, Aragog said that the girl who was murdered was found in a bathroom," Harry said. "Ron and I were thinking… what if she _never_ _left_ that bathroom?"

Lucy was confused for a moment before it clicked in her head. "You don't think—Moaning Myrtle?" she breathed, and Harry nodded.

"All those times we were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away," Ron said, shaking his head. "We could've asked her about it, and now—"

"Well, you wouldn't normally ask a ghost how they died, would you?" Lucy pointed out. "It seems a bit rude. And knowing Myrtle, she may have not reacted well."

"We have to ask her now," Harry said. "I just don't know _how_ we're going to do it. Even if we had Lucy ask to go to the bathroom, I don't think a professor would escort her to _that_ one."

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Well, it's out of order, for one thing," Lucy explained. "Also, it might look a little suspicious if I wanted to visit the bathroom where the first attack happened."

Ron frowned but nodded in understanding. "So, what now?" he asked, looking back at Harry, and Lucy turned to him, as well.

"We might have to use the Invisibility Cloak at night again," Harry sighed.

"If we upset Myrtle, she might make a lot of noise, though," Lucy said. "She'd alert anyone who was patrolling around her bathroom." Harry shrugged, and Lucy added, "Maybe we should talk to Professor McGonagall?" But as soon as she said it, she knew it wouldn't be possible.

"She'd ask too many questions," Harry replied. "We'd get into too much trouble."

The bell rang out, interrupting their conversation and signaling to the students that it was time to go to their classes.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Their first lesson of the day was Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall dropped a bomb on the second-years. She informed them that their final exams would begin in a week, on the first of June.

" _Exams_?" Seamus burst out. "We're still getting _exams_?"

There was a bang as Neville dropped his wand in disbelief, and the leg of the table he was sitting at vanished.

Professor McGonagall fixed the table immediately before frowning at her students. "The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she explained. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard."

The Gryffindors exchanged glances of annoyance, and dark murmuring spread across the room.

"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible," Professor McGonagall snapped. "That, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you learned this year."

The students grudgingly went back to their work.

"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" Ron whispered to Lucy and Harry, holding up his wand as it started to whistle.

 **~LJ:SD~**

With only three days left until exams, Professor McGonagall made yet another announcement, this time to the entire school at breakfast. "I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall filled with shouts.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" some people guessed.

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" a Ravenclaw girl cried.

"Quidditch matches are back on!" Oliver shouted from the Gryffindor table, causing Lucy to snort into her eggs.

Professor McGonagall held up her hands, trying to silence the students. When the murmurs had died away, she continued with a faint smile, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who—or what—attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

There was an uproar of cheering. Lucy was grinning from ear-to-ear; she couldn't wait to see Hermione awake again.

"It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" Ron exclaimed to Lucy and Harry. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is 'til they're over."

Lucy chuckled at that.

Then Ginny walked over to them, her expression anxious, and sat down next to her brother. The three second-years looked at her expectantly, but she didn't say anything.

"What's up?" Ron asked after a moment. Ginny still didn't speak, so Ron added, "Spit it out."

"I've got to tell you something," she said in a small voice, not looking at any of them.

Lucy put her fork down, concern for the young girl growing.

"What is it?" Harry asked kindly.

Ginny opened and closed her mouth a few times, as though she didn't know how to say what was on her mind.

" _What_?" Ron asked, sounding annoyed, and Lucy glared at him.

Harry leaned forward towards Ginny and asked in a very low voice, "Is it about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?"

Ginny took a deep breath, but before she could say anything, Percy joined them. "If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny," he said. "I'm starving. I've only just come off patrol duty."

Ginny jumped up and fled the table before anyone else could say anything. Percy sat down and helped himself to a cup of tea.

"Percy!" Ron complained. "She was just about to tell us something important!"

"What sort of thing?" Percy asked, choking on his tea.

"I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd," Harry explained, "and she started to say—"

"Oh—that—that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," Percy said, blushing and shaking his head violently.

"How do you know?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

"Well—er—if you _must_ know," Percy stammered, "Ginny—er—walked in on me when I was—well, never mind—the point is, she spotted me doing something, and I—um—I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really—I'd just rather—"

"What were you doing, Percy?" Ron asked, with a grin identical to his twin brothers' when they were plotting a prank. "Go on, tell us! We won't laugh."

"Pass me those rolls, Harry. I'm starving," Percy said loudly, closing the subject.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Later that day, after their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart was reluctantly escorting the second-year Gryffindors to History of Magic. He was grumbling about the need to escort the students around, still under the belief that the danger was past. "Mark my words," he said. "The first thing out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be _it was Hagrid_. Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."

"I agree, sir," Harry spoke up, causing Lucy and Ron to look at him in surprise.

"Thank you, Harry," Lockhart continued as he stopped, waiting for a group of Hufflepuff students to pass in front of him. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night—"

"That's right," Ron said. "Why don't you leave us here, sir? We've only got one more corridor to go—"

Lucy was confused for a moment, but a second later she caught on to what the boys were trying to do.

"You know, Weasley, I think I will," Lockhart decided. "I really should go and prepare my next class.…"

The Gryffindors glanced at each other in disbelief as Lockhart strode off, leaving them in the middle of the hallway.

" _Prepare_ _his_ _class_ ," Ron repeated mockingly. "Gone to curl his hair, more like."

The Hufflepuffs had passed by, and the rest of the Gryffindors continued on to History of Magic.

"C'mon; this way," Harry murmured to Lucy and Ron, and the three of them slipped away down a side corridor.

They were nearly to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom when a voice shouted, "Potter! Weasley! Jones! What _are_ you doing?" They froze and turned to see Professor McGonagall, looking quite upset.

Ron started, "We were—we were—We were going to—to go and see—"

"Hermione," Lucy stated promptly, blurting out the first name that came to mind.

After a sidelong glance at Lucy, Harry hurried to elaborate, "We haven't seen her for ages, Professor. We thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know. Tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and—er—not to worry.…"

It took Professor McGonagall a moment to respond to them, and Lucy was sure they were in trouble. "Of course," the professor said, surprising all three of them. "Of course. I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been—I quite understand. Yes, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

Lucy, Harry, and Ron turned and made their way to the hospital wing, hardly believing their luck.

"That," Ron said when they were out of Professor McGonagall's earshot, "was the best story you've ever come up with."

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they reached the hospital wing, they told Madam Pomfrey that Professor McGonagall had given them permission to see Hermione. Madam Pomfrey was confused as to why they wanted to see someone who was Petrified, but she let them in anyway.

"There's just no _point_ talking to a Petrified person," she muttered as she led them over to Hermione's bed.

The three Gryffindors took seats around the bed, at a loss for words.

"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" Ron mused aloud. "I mean, if he snuck up on them all, no one'll ever know.…"

"Good point," Lucy murmured, staring at Hermione's unblinking, frozen face.

"Look," Harry said, pointing to Hermione's hand. "There's something there. A piece of paper."

"Try and get it out," Lucy said, and Ron shifted his seat to block Madam Pomfrey's view of Harry.

Harry set to work, trying to wiggle the piece of paper out of Hermione's clenched fist. It took a few minutes, but eventually Harry managed to get it out without tearing it. He smoothed it out on the bed, and he and Ron bent over it to read it.

"What is it?" Lucy asked anxiously. "What does it say?"

Harry wordlessly handed the page over to Lucy, his eyes wide. Lucy quickly scanned the paper.

"This is it," Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper. "This is the answer. The monster in the chamber's a _basilisk_ —a giant serpent! _That's_ why I've been hearing that voice all over the place and nobody else has. It's because I understand Parseltongue.…"

"It says the basilisk kills people by looking at them," Lucy said, frowning, "but nobody's died."

"Because no one looked it straight in the eye," Harry explained. He gestured to the different beds as he continued, "Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin—Justin must've seen the basilisk _through_ Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die _again._ … Then Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized that the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! So that girl pulled out her mirror—and—"

"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron prompted.

Harry was quiet for a minute while he thought. "The water…" he finally said. "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection.…"

" _The crowing of the rooster is fatal to it_ ," Lucy read from the paper.

"Hagrid's roosters were killed!" Harry exclaimed, nodding. "The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the chamber was opened."

" _Spiders flee before it_ ," Lucy continued to read. "It all seems to fit."

"So, how's the basilisk been getting around the place?" Ron asked, his brow furrowed. "A giant snake—someone would have seen—"

Lucy held the page up and pointed to the bottom where Hermione had written one word. "Pipes," she said.

"It's been using the plumbing," Harry said, nodding. "I've been hearing that voice _inside_ the walls.…"

Ron suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, looking frantic. "The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said. "What if it's in a bathroom? What if it's in—"

" _Moaning Myrtle's bathroom_ ," Harry finished.

All three of them exchanged excited looks.

"This means I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school," Harry reasoned. "The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."

"Or she," Lucy added quickly.

"What're we going to do?" Ron asked. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"

"Yes," Lucy said, relieved that her friends were thinking the same thing she was.

"Let's go to the staff room," Harry replied. "She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."

They left the hospital wing, trying to remain calm as to not alert Madam Pomfrey to their strange behavior. As soon as they reached the corridor, they sprinted for the staff room.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Once inside the staff room, Harry and Ron were unable to stand still. Lucy hopped up onto one of the tables, sitting on her hands to try to keep them from shaking.

Ten minutes passed, but the bell to signal the end of class never came. Instead, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed magically around the staff room. " _All students return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please_."

"Not another attack?" Harry asked, looking around at Lucy and Ron. "Not now?"

"What'll we do?" Ron questioned. "Go back to the dormitory?"

"No, we need to tell Professor McGonagall what we know," Lucy said.

Harry looked around and then moved over to a wardrobe along one of the walls. "In here," he said, opening the door. "Let's hear what this is all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."

Lucy and Ron hurried to join Harry inside the wardrobe.

Minutes later, the staff room was full of teachers.

"It has happened," Professor McGonagall began, looking solemnly around the room. "A student has been taken by the monster right into the chamber itself."

Many of the teachers let out gasps of horror.

"How can you be sure?" Snape asked.

"The Heir of Slytherin left another message," Professor McGonagall explained. "Right underneath the first one. _Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever_."

Professor Flitwick let out a sob.

"Who is it?" Madam Hooch questioned. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," Professor McGonagall announced, looking faint.

Lucy gasped, and Ron slid down onto the floor in the wardrobe.

"We shall have to send all of the students home tomorrow," Professor McGonagall said. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said—" She was interrupted by the door of the staff room bursting open.

Lockhart, smiling away, entered the room. "So sorry—dozed off—what have I missed?" he asked.

"Just the man," Snape started, stepping toward Lockhart. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart froze, his smile slipping off his face.

"That's right, Gilderoy," Professor Sprout spoke up. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

Lockhart stammered, "I—Well, I—"

"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"D-did I?" Lockhart said, looking very nervous. "I don't recall—"

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," Snape said, nodding. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"

Lockhart sputtered, "I—I really never—You may have misunderstood—"

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," Professor McGonagall finished briskly. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself: a free rein at last."

There was a moment of silence.

"V-very well," Lockhart said. "I'll—I'll be in my office, getting—getting ready." He turned and swept from the room.

"Right," Professor McGonagall said once he was gone, "that's got _him_ out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students of what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories?"

With that, the teachers all exited the staff room, leaving Lucy, Harry, and Ron feeling shocked and not knowing what to do next.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy, Harry, and Ron went back to the common room, because they couldn't think of anything else they could do. They took seats in the corner of the room. Lucy didn't know what to say; Ginny had become like a sister to her, and Lucy felt horrible that this had happened to her.

Professor McGonagall had shown up not long after Lucy and her friends had returned. The professor very solemnly informed the other Gryffindors about what had happened and that they would all be leaving the next day.

The afternoon passed slowly and quietly, since none of the Gryffindors seemed to know what to do. Everyone was especially delicate around the Weasleys. Fred and George went to bed very early that night, along with a lot of other Gryffindors.

"She knew something," Ron finally said to Lucy and Harry. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was…" He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. "I mean, she was a pureblood. There can't be any other reason." Lucy put her arm around Ron's shoulders as he spoke again, "D'you think there's any chance at all she's not—you know—?"

"I don't know," Lucy whispered, her eyes watering. She didn't want to think of Ginny lying dead in the Chamber of Secrets.

"D'you know what?" Ron started again, his voice stronger. "I think we should go and see Lockhart—tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the chamber. We can tell him where we think it is and that it's a basilisk in there."

Lucy and Harry nodded in agreement, but neither of them had anything to add. So, the three second-years stood up and left the common room without anyone stopping them.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they reached Lockhart's office, they could hear thumping and rustling noises coming from inside. Harry stepped up first and knocked on the door. There was a sudden silence, and the door opened just a crack.

Lockhart's eye looked back at them. "Oh—Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Jones," he said. He opened the door a bit wider so his whole head was in view. "I'm rather busy at the moment—if you would be quick—"

"Professor, we've got some information for you," Harry began. "We think it'll help you."

Lockhart stammered, trying to find the right words, "Er—well—it's not terribly—I mean—well—all right.…" He opened the door and let the Gryffindors enter.

His office was practically empty except for the boxes on the floor which were bursting with things.

Lucy frowned, looking around the place. "Are you going somewhere?" she asked, motioning to the boxes.

"Er—well, yes," Lockhart answered. "Urgent call—unavoidable—got to go—"

"What about my sister?" Ron demanded, looking upset.

"Well, as to that—most unfortunate," Lockhart said, continuing to pile things into boxes and not looking at the Gryffindors. "No one regrets more than I—"

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Harry shouted. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"

"Well—I must say—when I took the job," Lockhart tried to explain, "there was nothing in the job description—didn't expect—"

"You mean you're _running away_?" Lucy accused, glaring at him.

"After all that stuff you did in your books?" Harry added.

"Books can be misleading," Lockhart replied airily.

"You wrote them!" Harry cried.

"My dear boy," Lockhart started, finally looking at them, "do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think _I'd_ done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover—no dress sense at all. As for the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee, she had a horrid harelip. I mean, come on—"

"So you've just been taking credit for what a bunch of other people have done?" Lucy asked.

"It's not nearly as simple as that," Lockhart insisted. "There was work involved. I had to track these people down and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them, so they didn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

He let the lids on his trunks slam shut. "Let's see. I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left." He took his wand out and turned to the three Gryffindors. "Awfully sorry, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you three now. Can't have you babbling my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book—"

Lucy and Harry both whipped their wands out as Lockhart raised his. " _Expelliarmus_!" they cried, pointing their wands at him.

He was blasted off his feet, and his wand went flying in the air. Ron jumped up and caught it, and then he threw it out the open window.

"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," Harry snarled, advancing on the professor.

"What d'you want me to do?" Lockhart asked in a pitifully small voice. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," Harry replied, forcing Lockhart to his feet. "We think _we_ know where it is _and_ what's inside it. Let's go."

 **~LJ:SD~**

Making Lockhart walk ahead of them, they left his office and went down the flight of stairs to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. There they could see the new message on the wall beneath the first one.

When they entered the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle looked up from where she was floating. "Oh, it's you," she said, recognizing Lucy, Harry, and Ron. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died," Harry said.

Lucy cringed internally, hoping that Myrtle wouldn't throw a fit.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," Myrtle said, sounding surprisingly pleased that someone had asked her about her death. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying. Then I heard someone come in. They said something funny; a different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a _boy_ speaking. So, I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then—" Myrtle paused for dramatic effect. "—I _died_."

"How?" Harry urged.

"No idea," Myrtle replied. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away.… Then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" Harry pressed.

"Somewhere over there," Myrtle said, pointing towards one of the sinks.

Harry and Ron went over to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Lucy stayed with Lockhart, keeping her wand pointed at him.

"That tap's never worked," Myrtle informed Harry as he attempted to turn on one of the faucets.

"Harry," Ron said, "say something. Say something in Parseltongue."

"But…" Harry trailed off. He looked at something on the tap and said, "Open up." He glanced at Ron.

Ron shook his head. "English," he reported.

Harry looked back at the tap again and tried to speak to it once more. This time, a strange hissing came from his mouth. Suddenly, the sink the tap was connected to began to drop into the floor, exposing a large pipe opening in the wall.

"You did it!" Lucy gasped.

"I'm going down there," Harry stated, staring into the pipe.

"Me, too," Lucy and Ron agreed at the same time.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," Lockhart spoke up for the first time. "I'll just—" He stopped talking as Lucy, Harry, and Ron all pointed their wands at him.

"You can go first," Ron demanded.

"What good will it do?" Lockhart asked, looking anxious. Lucy pushed her wand into his back, so he walked forward. When he reached the pipe, he swung his legs into the hole. He began again, "I really don't think—"

Ron gave him a shove from behind, and the professor slid quickly out of sight. Harry climbed in next, and he soon disappeared, as well.

"Go ahead," Lucy said, gesturing to the pipe. Ron sat down and whizzed into the darkness, and Lucy followed quickly.

 **~LJ:SD~**

It was like being on a large slide at a Muggle playground, except darker and smellier. Soon, Lucy was shooting out of the pipe and into a small stone tunnel. Ron helped her to her feet.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry observed.

"Under the lake, probably," Ron commented.

Lucy and Harry lit their wands and held them up to see ahead of themselves.

"C'mon," Harry said, and he led the way. As they walked, he whispered, "Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes right away.…"

They continued on. Lucy noticed that the floor was slimy and littered with small animal skeletons.

"Harry—there's something up there," Ron said eventually, grabbing Harry's shoulder and pointing ahead of them. They could see the outline of some large creature further on.

"Maybe it's asleep," Harry murmured. He started to creep forward, while Lucy, Ron, and Lockhart stayed back.

"It's okay," Harry called after a minute. "It's just a snake skin."

The other three joined him, the snake skin coming into view. It was huge, a hint at what the monster in the chamber was.

"Blimey," Ron said.

Then there was a noise; all three students turned to see that Lockhart had collapsed to the floor.

"Get up," Ron said, pointing his wand at the teacher.

Lockhart got up shakily and then dived towards Ron, tackling him to the ground.

"Ron!" Lucy said, lunging forward.

Lockhart stood triumphantly, holding Ron's wand over his head. Lucy froze in her tracks, warily eyeing the wand in the professor's hand.

"The adventure ends here!" Lockhart announced. "I shall take a bit of this skin up to the school and tell them I was too late to save the girl and that you three _tragically_ lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body—say good-bye to your memories!" He raised Ron's wand and bellowed, " _Obliviate_!"

The wand exploded. Lucy ducked, ran towards Ron, and pushed him away from Lockhart. Large chunks of the ceiling began to fall around them. Lucy threw her arms over her head, but nothing fell on her.

After a few moments, Lucy and Ron looked up to see a wall of rocks blocking their path. There was no sign of Harry.

"You all right?" Lucy asked Ron. "Still have your memory?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Ron replied. "Where's Harry?"

Lucy shrugged. She got to her feet and reached down to help Ron up. Near the rock wall, Lucy saw Lockhart lying unmoving on the ground. "Professor?" she asked, walking slowly over to him. She crouched down and prodded at Lockhart's chest. He didn't move, but Lucy could see that he was breathing. She reported this to Ron.

"Slimy git," Ron growled, joining Lucy by the wall. "I can't believe he did that—"

"Ron! Lucy!" came a muffled cry. "Are you okay?"

"That's Harry," Lucy said, straightening up quickly.

"We're here!" Ron shouted back. "We're okay—this git's not, though—he got blasted by the wand—" He aimed a kick at Lockhart's shin, and Lockhart let out a groan of pain.

"What do we do now, Harry?" Lucy asked loudly. "We can't get through—it would take us too long."

There was a heavy pause.

"Wait there," Harry finally answered. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on.… If I'm not back in an hour…"

There was another pause.

"We'll try and move some of these rocks," Lucy spoke up in a strong voice, "so you can get back through."

"See you in a bit," Harry said, and they could hear his footsteps echoing away from them.

Lucy turned to Ron. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," he agreed, and they started to shift the rocks out of the way.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Time seemed to move very slowly as Lucy and Ron pulled and shoved rocks out of the way. It was sweaty work, too. Lucy wished that she knew some spell that could help them, but she couldn't think of one.

Not long after Harry had left, Lockhart stirred. Lucy and Ron froze, and Lucy pulled her wand out to point it at the professor.

Lockhart sat up awkwardly and blinked a few times. "Hello," he said to Lucy and Ron. "Who are you?"

"Ron Weasley," Ron answered.

"Lucy Jones," Lucy echoed.

Lockhart looked at both of them with a delirious smile on his face. "Well, that's interesting," he said. "And, um… Who—Who am I?"

Lucy and Ron exchanged a glance.

"You mean to say you don't remember who you are?" Ron asked slowly.

"I'm afraid I can't remember my name," Lockhart answered, and then he giggled.

Lucy, growing very concerned, approached Lockhart slowly and said, "Your name is Gilderoy Lockhart."

"What a funny name," Lockhart replied.

"What's going on?" Ron asked Lucy in a hushed voice.

"His Memory Charm must have backfired," Lucy replied. "He was using _your_ wand, after all."

"What are you whispering about?" Lockhart asked.

"Nothing," Lucy said. "Look, why don't you come over here with me?"

Lockhart followed her away from the wall, and Ron trailed behind them. Lucy brought Lockhart back to the main pipe that they'd slid down.

"Sit," Lucy commanded, motioning to a rock on the ground.

Lockhart obeyed, looking around the cave in interest. Lucy conjured a blue flame—one of Hermione's favorite charms—and levitated it out of the professor's reach. Then she said, "Okay, now, you stay here, and we'll be back for you in a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Lockhart replied. "Where are you going?"

"We're going to go back there and keep working on moving those rocks," Lucy answered.

"Why?" Lockhart asked.

"It's not important," Lucy said, getting tired of his questions. "You just stay here, okay?"

Lockhart hummed and nodded.

Lucy turned back to Ron. "I think he'll be okay," she said. "Let's get back to the rocks." She and Ron hurried back to where they'd been and continued to move rocks.

 **~LJ:SD~**

A little while later, they had managed to create a small hole in the wall.

"Do you think Harry would be able to fit through here?" Ron asked.

"Only one way to find out," Lucy said. She climbed through the hole fairly easily. "Looks like it might be big enough," she said. Then she started to move rocks from the other side to see if she could make the hole any bigger.

It was only a few minutes after that when they heard a voice yelling to them.

"Ron! Lucy!" Harry's voice called from down the tunnel. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"

Ron gave a cheer, and Lucy turned to see a large bird flying towards her. Behind the bird, Harry was guiding Ginny towards them.

"Ginny!" Lucy shouted, running forward and gathering the young girl into her arms. "You're okay!"

" _Ginny_!" Ron cried from the other side of the wall.

Lucy led Ginny and Harry over to the hole, and Ron pulled his sister through first. Then Lucy climbed through, followed by Harry. The bird flew through after them.

"You're alive!" Ron said. "I don't believe it! What happened? How—what—where did that bird come from?"

"He's Dumbledore's," Harry explained.

"How come you've got a _sword_?" Ron asked, staring at the weapon in Harry's hand.

Lucy noticed that Harry was covered in blood and slime, and he was also carrying the Sorting Hat.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," Harry replied.

Ron started, "But—"

"Later," Harry interrupted. "Where's Lockhart?"

"Back there," Lucy said, pointing back to the pipe they had come out of. "He's, uh—he's in an interesting state. Come and see."

Lucy led the other three back towards the entrance, and they found Lockhart still sitting on his rock. "His memory's gone," Lucy explained. "The Memory Charm backfired; hit him instead of us. He doesn't know who he is or what's going on. I had him come over here, so he'd be out of the way."

"He's a danger to himself," Ron added.

Lockhart looked up at them, still smiling away obliviously. "Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

"No," Ron answered.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" Harry asked, peering up the pipe they'd slid down.

Lucy and Ron both shook their heads, but Dumbledore's bird flew in front of Harry.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold…" Ron said, looking confused, "but you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there.…"

"Fawkes isn't an ordinary bird," Harry replied, a slow smile forming on his face. Then he turned to the others and said, "We've got to hold onto each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand. Lucy, you take Ginny's. Professor Lockhart—"

"He means you," Ron told Lockhart, who looked around in interest.

"You hold Lucy's other hand," Harry said.

Lucy held out her hand for Lockhart to take, which he did without complaint. Lucy took hold of Ginny's hand, who also held Ron's hand. Harry stowed the sword and the Sorting Hat under his belt. Ron grabbed the back of Harry's robes, and Harry took hold of Fawkes's tail feathers.

There was a strange feeling that passed through Lucy then, as though she had suddenly become weightless. Fawkes spread his wings and began to fly up the pipe. Lucy let out an exhilarated breath as she was lifted off the ground.

Lockhart was laughing below her, yelling, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!"

 **~LJ:SD~**

They flew all the way up the pipe, and Fawkes deposited them onto the floor of the girls' bathroom.

Moaning Myrtle looked up from her toilet. "You're alive," she said, mostly directed at Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," Harry said.

"Oh, well.… I'd just been thinking… if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," Myrtle said, sounding slightly vulnerable.

"Sorry about that," Harry said, distracted by Fawkes flying for the door. "Well, we better be going." He motioned for the others to follow him, and he hurried after the bird.

"Urgh!" Ron said once they were out in the corridor. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown _fond_ of you! You've got competition, Ginny!"

"Ron," Lucy said with warning. She put her arm around Ginny, who was silently crying.

"Where now?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry pointed at Fawkes, who seemed to know where he was going.

Soon, they found themselves at Professor McGonagall's office. After looking at Lucy and Ron, Harry took a deep breath, knocked on the door, and pushed it open.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: Obviously, Lucy doesn't accompany Harry into the actual chamber, just like she didn't go with him to confront Quirrell in the last story.**_

 _ **One more chapter left!**_


	16. 16: Forgiveness & Farewell

_**A/N: This is the final chapter!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – Forgiveness and Farewell**

" _Ginny_!"

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there in Professor McGonagall's office. They both ran to their daughter and pulled her into a hug. Lucy looked around the room to see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall standing near the fire. Dumbledore was smiling at the students, and Professor McGonagall looked as though she was about to have a heart attack.

Mrs. Weasley was now throwing her arms around Lucy, Harry, and Ron all at once, saying, "You saved her! You saved her! _How_ did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," Professor McGonagall said.

Mrs. Weasley let go of the kids, and Harry moved to the desk. He set the Sorting Hat, the sword, and what looked like Riddle's diary on top of it. Then he took a deep breath and began telling the story.

He started with how he had been hearing a voice in the walls and about finding out that he was a Parselmouth. He told them how Hermione had figured out that the monster was a basilisk, and it had been using the plumbing to get around the school. Then he told them how he, Lucy, and Ron had gone into the forest and found Aragog, recounting what Aragog had told them. He finished by talking about their guessing that Moaning Myrtle had been the girl who was murdered before and that the entrance to the chamber might be in her bathroom.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall said. "So, you found out where the entrance was—breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add—but how on _earth_ did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"

Lucy and Ron listened closely to this part of the story, since they hadn't actually gone into the chamber with Harry.

Harry explained how Fawkes had shown up and pecked out the basilisk's eyes and how the Sorting Hat had produced the sword for him. He stopped abruptly after that, as though he didn't know how to continue, and he looked to Dumbledore.

"What interests _me_ most," Dumbledore prompted, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."

Lucy and Ron exchanged bewildered looks. _What did You-Know-Who have to do with any of this?_ Lucy wondered.

"Wh-What's that?" Mrs. Weasley sputtered. " _You-Know-Who_? En-enchant _Ginny_? But Ginny's not—Ginny hasn't been—has she?"

"It was this diary," Harry explained, picking up the book. "Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen.…"

Dumbledore took the diary and examined it. "Brilliant," he murmured. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." Mr. and Mrs. Weasley still looked very confused, so Dumbledore explained further, "Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, here at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school. He traveled far and wide, and he sank so deeply into the Dark Arts—consorted with the very worst of our kind—underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations—that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But—Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, still not understanding. "What's our Ginny got to do with—with— _him_?"

"His d-diary!" Ginny wailed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year—"

" _Ginny_!" Mr. Weasley gasped. "Haven't I taught you _anything_? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can't see where it keeps its brain_! Why didn't you show the diary to me or your mother? A suspicious object like that—it was _clearly_ full of Dark Magic—"

"I d-didn't know," Ginny cried. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it—"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore cut in gently. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He walked over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate," he continued. "I always find that cheers me up. You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out the Mandrake juice—I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" Ron spoke up.

Lucy felt a wave of relief wash over her, and she grinned.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," Dumbledore finished, smiling down at the young girl.

Mrs. Weasley put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and led her from the room. Mr. Weasley trailed behind them.

"You know, Minerva," Dumbledore said, turning to the deputy headmistress, "I think all this merits a good _feast_. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," Professor McGonagall agreed. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter, Weasley, and Jones, shall I?"

"Certainly," Dumbledore said.

Professor McGonagall left then, leaving Lucy, Harry, and Ron to wonder what she meant by _deal_ _with_. Lucy's smile faded, and she exchanged glances with her friends.

"I seem to remember telling you—Harry, Ron—that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," Dumbledore started.

Lucy's eyes widened; she had practically forgotten about how the boys had flown Mr. Weasley's car to school that year.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore continued, smiling at them. "You will all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and—let me see—yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."

Lucy and Harry exchanged grins, and Ron just looked very relieved.

"One of us, however," Dumbledore said, looking beyond the Gryffindors, "seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure. Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Lucy and the boys turned to look at Lockhart, who hadn't realized that Dumbledore was talking to him.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron stepped in, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart—"

"Am I a professor?" Lockhart interrupted. "Goodness, I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"He tried to do a Memory Charm, and the wand backfired," Ron finished quietly to Dumbledore.

"Dear me," Dumbledore said. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" Lockhart asked, looking confused. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though. He'll lend you one."

"Would you two mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore asked Ron and Lucy. "I'd like a few more words with Harry.…"

"Of course, sir," Lucy replied. She went to the office door, opened it, and ushered Lockhart out.

Ron followed, closing the door behind them. "What do you think Dumbledore is talking about with Harry?" he asked immediately.

"I don't know," Lucy replied. "I'm sure Harry will tell us about it later if he feels like it."

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy and Ron guided Lockhart down to the hospital wing. When they entered the ward, there was a lot of commotion. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to them, asking what was wrong.

"Unfortunately, Professor Lockhart has had a bit of an accident with a backfiring Memory Charm," Lucy explained. "He doesn't remember anything about who he is."

Madam Pomfrey hustled the professor to a bed of his own and gave him some Sleeping Draught. Then, before Lucy and Ron could leave, Madam Pomfrey stopped them. "Is it true?" she asked them. "Has the heir been found out? Are the attacks over?"

Lucy smiled. "Yes," she said. "The monster in the chamber is dead. There won't be any more attacks. Speaking of, are the people who were Petrified awake yet?"

"Nearly there," Madam Pomfrey answered. "They should be awake within the hour. It takes a while for the potion to spread throughout the body."

Lucy nodded, and she and Ron left the hospital wing.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Lucy replied. "Dumbledore said something about a feast.…"

"Let's try the common room," Ron suggested.

Lucy agreed, so they went back up to Gryffindor Tower.

 **~LJ:SD~**

When they reached the portrait hole, the Fat Lady was quick to question them, as well. "Is it true?" she asked. "Is the monster dead?"

Lucy and Ron both nodded, and the Fat Lady let them into the common room without the password. They were met with the whole of Gryffindor house waiting with held breath. Lucy exchanged a glance with Ron, who nodded at her.

"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is dead," she announced. "Ginny is alive. The people who were Petrified should be waking up within the hour."

There was an uproar of cheers at this news, and Lucy and Ron found themselves being passed around the common room. Thankfully this didn't last long, because Professor McGonagall turned up soon after.

"Well, it seems as though you've heard the good news," she said, beaming uncharacteristically around the room. "Professor Dumbledore has returned, and there is to be a feast, starting immediately. You may all come down to the Great Hall whenever you want. Don't worry about changing into your uniforms or robes."

There was another cheer from the Gryffindors, and nearly everyone poured out of the common room.

George, Fred, and Percy hurried up to Lucy and Ron, asking about Ginny. Ron told them that she had been sent to the hospital wing to get some rest. Percy rushed off to the hospital wing to see her and their parents, while Fred and George joined Lucy and Ron to go down to the Great Hall.

 **~LJ:SD~**

There was food already on the tables when they got there. Soon after, members from other houses came streaming into the Great Hall, as well. Everyone seemed to be buzzing with excitement and happiness.

A little while later, Harry entered the Great Hall. A hush fell over the crowd, followed by a loud round of applause. Harry, ducking his head in embarrassment, hurried to sit with his friends at the Gryffindor table. Lucy hugged him.

A few minutes after that, someone tapped Lucy on the shoulder. She turned around to see Jeremy standing behind her.

"Can I have a word?" he asked, looking at her properly for the first time since Christmas.

"Of course," she said. She got up from her spot at the table and followed him out to the entrance hall.

Jeremy stopped near the bottom of the main stairs and then looked at his shoes.

"I'm sorry," Lucy blurted out before he could say anything. "I am _so_ sorry. I'm sorry I lied to you, and I'm sorry that I made it seem like I didn't trust you. I'm just… really sorry."

Jeremy looked up at her and smiled softly. "I'm sorry, too," he said. "I... may have overreacted. I also shouldn't have accused you of not trusting me. I was just hurt that you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry," Lucy repeated. "So, are we still friends?"

"Yes, of course," he said, grinning, and Lucy smiled back.

They stood there for a moment longer, and Lucy swore her stomach did a bit of a flip. Confused, she glanced away and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, we better go back in," she said, her face feeling warm. "Don't want to miss anything important."

She looked up at him. Jeremy, with a small smile, nodded in agreement. They went back into the hall, parting ways to their own tables.

As Lucy retook her seat, she tried to figure out why she felt as though there were butterflies in her gut. She was glad that she and Jeremy were on speaking terms again, but she didn't know why it was making her feel both nervous and excited.

Silence fell around Lucy, and she quickly looked up to see what had made everyone stop talking. In the doorway of the Great Hall stood the four students who had been Petrified. Then there was more loud cheering as the victims rejoined their houses at their tables.

Lucy squealed and ran to Hermione. They hugged tightly, Hermione beaming and Lucy grinning so widely that her cheeks hurt.

"You solved it!" Hermione shouted over the noise as she moved over to Harry next. "You solved it!"

Lucy turned and found Colin amidst a crowd of first-year Gryffindors. She hurried over and pulled him into a hug, as well.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" Lucy said.

"Thanks, Lucy," Colin said, hugging her back. When Lucy pulled away, Colin grinned at her and was passed onto the next person.

As Lucy was returning to her seat with her friends, Justin came over from the Hufflepuff table to apologize to Harry for suspecting him. Lucy had to nudge Ron, who was looking skeptically at Justin as he was speaking.

The feast continued well into the night. Eventually, students began wandering between tables, hanging out with friends from other houses. Lucy was particularly happy when Hermione, Ron, and Harry apologized to Jeremy, as well. After accepting their apology, Jeremy and his friends Daphne, Mary, and Jake joined them at the Gryffindor table. Jeremy was squeezed very closely to Lucy on the bench, and Lucy could feel the butterflies in her stomach again.

At about 3:30 in the morning, Hagrid entered the Great Hall, having been released from Azkaban. He immediately gave Lucy, Harry, and Ron bone crushing hugs, sobbing his thanks for clearing his name.

Then there were a few announcements. First, Professor McGonagall stood to tell the students that exams had been cancelled.

"Oh, _no_!" Hermione moaned, and Ron rolled his eyes at her.

Professor Dumbledore got up after Professor McGonagall. "I have a slightly unfortunate announcement to make first," he said, causing the school to become immediately quiet. "It seems that Professor Lockhart will not be able to return next year."

Quite a few cheers broke out at this news, including some from the staff table.

"Shame," Ron said. "He was starting to grow on me."

Lucy snorted in laughter, but Hermione looked at them indignantly.

"Now, to happier news," Dumbledore said. "I know it's customary to award the House Cup at the end-of-term feast, but I think we can consider this to be that feast. Therefore, I am going to award the House Cup."

He listed off the houses and their points, and—because of Lucy's, Harry's, and Ron's points from earlier that night—Gryffindor won the House Cup again.

Hogwarts continued to party into the night, and Lucy couldn't think of a happier ending to the school year.

 **~LJ:SD~**

There were still a couple weeks left of the term. Students continued to go to classes—except for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which had been cancelled. Thankfully, since exams had also been cancelled, the professors weren't giving any homework.

Most of the students spent as much time as possible outside of their common rooms, having been cooped up in them for so many weeks. The spirits around the castle were higher than they'd been practically all year. Lucy was laughing and smiling more in these two weeks than she had for the past few months.

All too soon, it seemed, the day came that the students had to board the Hogwarts Express for home. Trunks were packed, dormitories were cleaned out, and the usual notices telling the students not to use magic outside of school were handed out.

At the end of breakfast, the seventh-years were called one by one to stand up. The rest of the school applauded to congratulate them. Then they left the Great Hall to go down to the boats that would take them to the train.

In the meantime, the rest of the school gathered in the entrance hall and waited for their turn to go down to the Hogwarts Express. Lucy found it much more upsetting to be leaving this year. She felt as though things were finally going well, and now they had to leave.

The students hadn't been waiting long when Hagrid arrived, calling for the first-years, who would be taking the boats across the lake now that the seventh-years had left. The rest of the school milled around the entrance hall, exchanging farewells.

"Lucy!"

Lucy turned to see Jeremy walking towards her through the crowd. Her stomach did the now-usual flip when she saw him, and she took a few steps away from her friends to meet him. "Hi, Jeremy," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey," he replied. "I wanted to catch you before we all went down to the train."

"Well, you've caught me," Lucy said with a smirk.

Jeremy rolled his eyes playfully. "Anyway, I wanted to say that I hope you have a nice summer," he said.

"You, too," Lucy said. "Are you going to France again?"

"Probably," Jeremy answered. "It's either that or sit around at home with my father. Neither of them are great choices—"

"As I tell you _every_ _summer_ ," Daphne said, appearing next to Jeremy, "if you would stay in England, you could help keep _me_ company."

Jeremy gave her a look before turning back to Lucy. "Like I said, neither of them are great choices," he repeated.

Daphne gave a mock gasp of horror, and Lucy giggled.

"I suppose we'd better get in line for the carriages, though," Jeremy added, motioning to the front doors; the rest of the school had begun to surge towards them.

"Have a good summer!" Lucy said.

Jeremy smiled and waved before turning towards the doors. Lucy was about to do the same when Daphne stopped her.

"He is far more stubborn than he needs to be," Daphne said. "It took _way_ longer than it should have to convince him that he was being overly dramatic. Are you glad to be talking to him again?"

Lucy nodded, and then she stepped forward and hugged Daphne.

"Whoa," Daphne said with a laugh, although she lightly hugged Lucy back. "All right, but don't let this go to your head. I'm not a hugger."

"Well, I am," Lucy retorted, pulling away. "Thank you, though. I hope you have a good summer, too."

Daphne's smile faded a bit. "I'll try," she said. "See you in a few months." Then she also turned and hurried to rejoin her friends.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked when Lucy reappeared next to him, Harry, and Hermione.

"Nothing," Lucy replied. "Just saying good-bye to some people."

They got in line for the carriages and moved slowly towards the front doors. Eventually, they were able to get into a carriage together, and they took the short trip down to the station. Then they were getting onto the scarlet train.

 **~LJ:SD~**

Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all piled into a compartment with Fred, George, and Ginny. Throughout the trip, they played a lot of Exploding Snap and practiced disarming one another.

At the very end of the journey, they set off Fred's and George's last firework. It whizzed down the train corridor, causing students in other compartments to stick their heads out in awe.

They were all getting ready for the train to pull into King's Cross Station when Harry suddenly turned to Ginny. "Ginny—what did you see Percy doing? That thing he didn't want you to tell anyone?" he asked.

"Oh, that," Ginny giggled. "Well—Percy's got a _girlfriend_."

Fred dropped an armful of books onto George's head. " _What_?" he asked in disbelief.

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," Ginny explained. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them _snogging_ in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was—you know—attacked. You won't tease him, will you?"

Fred and George had cracked identical grins.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Fred said.

"Definitely not," George added.

Lucy sniggered and shook her head.

 **~LJ:SD~**

As the Hogwarts Express came to a stop, Harry pulled out some parchment and a quill.

"This is called a telephone number," he said to Ron, jotting down the digits. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer—he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to.…" He also handed Hermione a slip of paper with the number on it. Then he looked at Lucy and added, "I'd give you my number, too, Lucy, but I don't know how well that would go, calling from America.…"

"That's okay," Lucy replied.

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" Hermione asked Harry as they exited the train. "When they hear what you did this year?"

"Proud?" Harry repeated. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious.…"

They lined up at the barrier and went through in pairs. Mrs. Weasley was there to greet them all, giving each of them enormous hugs, especially Hermione.

"It's so good to have you all home," she said, beaming. "I hope you all had a wonderful end of term."

The kids nodded.

Hermione spotted her parents through the crowd and said, "I should meet up with them." She gave Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Ginny all hugs before saying good-bye and hurrying off to meet her parents.

"Lucy!" a voice called.

Lucy turned to see Jeremy waving at her. Her stomach dipped, and she waved back at him. He was with a woman who had the same color hair as he did.

"Have a good summer!" he called as the woman, whom Lucy guessed was his mother, ushered him towards the station's exit.

"You, too!" Lucy shouted after him. She turned back to the Weasleys and Harry, who had just found his uncle waiting for him.

"Let's go," his uncle grunted as they got near.

Lucy pulled Harry into a hug, and then he and Ron shared a one-armed embrace.

"See you in a few months," Lucy said.

Harry smiled and walked away after his uncle.

"Lucy, dear, I'm afraid your parents weren't able to make it here today, so you can come home with us," Mrs. Weasley said. "We'll get you home from there."

Lucy nodded. "That's fine with me," she said. She smiled as she followed the Weasleys away from the train station, ready for the summer to begin.

 **~LJ:SD~**

* * *

 _ **A/N: I'm sure it was quite obviously that Lucy and Jeremy would make up at the end of the story. I know that they really don't say very much besides that they're sorry, but I think that's quite typical of kids their age: they don't get into long, deep discussions about why they felt hurt. They just move on. As you can see, though, something has shifted in Lucy's feelings towards Jeremy... Wink.**_

 _ **Daphne is one of my favorite side characters in these stories. For anyone who is worried, I'll let you know now that there will never be any jealousy issues between her and Lucy; they will always be friends, and Daphne and Jeremy will always be just friends.**_

 _ **And that's story number two finished! I hope you enjoyed it. The next story is called Connected, and the first chapter will be uploaded on March 4th. I hope to see you there, because the story gets much more interesting in the next one. Ta-ta!**_


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